


Road Trippin' With The Boys

by xikra1648



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Cliche, Comedy, Dancing, F/M, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Gen, It was just the only title I could think of, It'll say in the title if they're connected, Not all of them take place during the game, One Shot Collection, Photography, Reader-Insert, Romance, Slow to Update at times, Smut, Some one-shots are connected and some aren't, Soulmate AU, sorry about that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2018-11-02 15:35:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 37,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10947468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xikra1648/pseuds/xikra1648
Summary: A life is much like a road trip with it's planned and unplanned stops, bumps in the road, good times, hard times, and even meeting new people you would remember forever or forget the second you got back in the car.  You never knew what was going to happen.What you did know, however, is that the trip would never be boring with these boys around.





	1. Briefs (No Real Pairing/Could Be Any of the Chocobros)

**Author's Note:**

> The beginning of another one-shot booklet. I have a ton of stories I need to finish, a sequel to start, and now I'm starting a one-shot booklet.
> 
> I'm a mess.
> 
> I should clarify that this exact situation literally happened to me in my first play-through. I was over 3/4 of the way to Lestallum, I could literally see the town, and then Ignis got all 'let's stop and camp at that place two miles back cause the sun is going down.' WE WERE SO CLOSE SPECS!!! WHAT THE HELL?!?!

# Briefs

### No Set Pairing/It Could Be Anyone

 

You had been so close to Lestallum, so close you could _literally_ feel it, and then Ignis parked the car and the five of you trekked through the field to a camp ground all because, _“There is a fine line between bravery and recklessness.”_

The sun was _barely_ set, it was five minutes away, and there was no doubt in your mind that the Regalia could outrun a deamon if it came to it, but _nooo_.  You just _had_ to camp in a place that was a humid 85 to 90 degrees (Fahrenheit) at _night_.  Right now the only line _you_ were seeing was the one Specs’ pants.  Now you couldn’t sleep, you tossed and turned all night, and eventually found yourself kicking off your pajama pants and lying on top of your open sleeping bag in nothing but your tank-top and favorite black briefs decorated in white skulls.

Reaching over for your phone you picked it up and woke it from its own slumber (lucky little bastard) and opened your King’s Knight app in the hopes of finding _anybody_ to play against.  Sure enough, the boys in the tent to your left were awake and playing.  You didn’t have time to challenge either one of them before Prompto opened a chat room for the three of you.

_Prompto: Can’t sleep either?_

_[Y/N]: Nope._

_Noctis: We were five minutes away too…_

_[Y/N]: You could have told him to keep driving._

_Noctis: I didn’t think it would be this bad._

_Prompto: Well, you know better for next time._

_[Y/N]: Glad to know the only side effect of the new king thinking is his inner circle melting._

_Noctis: Just wipe off the water, you’ll be back to bossing your flying monkeys around in no time._

_[Y/N]: I didn’t know you guys could fly._

_Prompto: Ouch!  I mean it’s true but…ouch…_

The night continued much like that, the three of you making sure to keep your phones on silent, until the older members of the traveling band got up.  Gladio threw the boys’ tent open without a care, they slept like rocks through that storm last week, while Ignis respected your privacy and only tapped on the outside of your tent as that had proven enough to wake you up.  Being as you were already awake, it just notified you of breakfast.

You brushed your hair and threw on some deodorant before emerging from your tent, hearing the boys outside.  Everyone froze, even the conversation stopped, as you got out of your tent, grabbed your mess kit, and got breakfast.  You sat in your chair and looked at the four who were still staring at you.

“I’m well aware of my state of dress, maybe next time someone will think about that before they opt out of driving the five extra _minutes_ it would take to get to an air-conditioned hotel,” you spoke without looking up from situating your kit safely on your lap before chowing down.  You finished your breakfast and cleaned up your kit before going back into your tent, it was Prompto’s turn to do the dishes, to freshen up and get dressed.  It wasn’t until you closed the flap of your tent behind you that reality snapped back to the guys.

You had left your tent in nothing but your tank top and briefs.

 

**Extended Ending**

The five of you ended up camping around Lestallum more often instead of staying at the Leville, something about saving Gil or whatever.  You eventually got used to sleeping in the heat, but you could only do so in a tank top and briefs and never bothered to dig out pants in the morning.  You’d already been forced to patch each other up in some awkward places (Noct took a hit to the front of his upper thigh just yesterday and the day before you took a Cactuar needle to the boob just above your bra line) so you just decided _screw it._

You _really_ should have realized that at least _one_ individual was thinking about your state of dress before opting out of five extra minutes of driving to an air-conditioned hotel, though he wasn’t the only one enjoying it, let alone the only one in on the grand scheme.

“I’m never gonna get sick of that view,” Gladio commented, sure to keep his voice down so you couldn’t hear.  The tents weren’t _soundproof_ after all, and the reason you were on this trip had nothing to do with your ass.

“Why do you think we keep camping?” Noctis retorted.

“Noct…” Ignis shot the young royal a warning glance.

“To save Gil, that’s why!” Prompto jumped in, a little too excitedly, like he had been in on the decision with the prince.  The advisor _obviously_ wasn’t believing it.  He’d fully admit you were an attractive woman, he had to stop himself from taking second glances, but you were a teammate and deserved respect.

A very attractive teammate that had no problem walking around barely dressed...


	2. Flexibility (Ignis Scientia)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You'd made a living in the more deft parts of field work, much unlike your twin who swung a great sword around and occasionally used a shield. You had yet to meet someone who could keep up with you, or even really catch your interest, and then you met Ignis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every government has their share of shady secrets and dealings, you can't tell me that Regis never sent someone out to secretly wipe out Imperial agents, spies, or any other important cogs in the Imperial machine the second they 'wandered' into Lucis. They spied on Lucis, so he spied right back.

# Flexibility

### Ignis Scientia

 

For being Gladio’s twin sister, you were wildly different.  For starters, you were about half his size and twice as frightening.  There was no way in _hell_ you were ever going to be strong enough to wave a greatsword around like he did but there was no way he’d be able to be _half_ as flexible as you so you figured all was fair.  Your training to be a Kingsglaive didn’t start with strength and endurance training but with gymnastics and acrobatics.  You weren’t trained to protect as much as you were trained to _kill_ , and had been sent on many such missions.  Of course, it was for that exact reason you had been assigned to join the road trip to Altissia.  Who better to spot and stop an assassination attempt than a trained assassin?

You had let Prompto sit in the front, listening to his claim that he would take some sick pictures, but after all but _two_ of them turned out to be pictures of _walls_ you kicked him to the back and took the front passenger’s seat for yourself.  Ignis had to admit he was relieved, partially because you didn’t get up and turn around in your seat while the car was still moving, but mostly because he enjoyed your company.  The two of you had only met fairly recently, seeing as you were always off spying, stealing something, or killing people before your assignment to safely escort the prince to his wedding, but you clicked and worked together like a perfected clock, both in the battlefield and when you were helping him with cooking.

Things didn’t _really_ click until an unexpected snag while the five of you were infiltrating one of the _many_ Imperial bases.

_A laser grid._

Having gone with Ignis and Noctis to sneak through the base (they would be idiots to leave the professional spy, thief, and assassin behind) you were the first one with a solution-to Noctis’ surprise.

“Hold this,” you whispered to Ignis as you handed him the black leather jacket you normally wore, leaving you in the black halter top that met in an inch-wide choker around your neck with a low-cut back, low rising black skinny jeans, and high-heeled ankle-high black combat boots.  Ignis was about to stop you, specifically to ask you what the hell you thought you were doing being so reckless, and actually thought he succeeded when you turned around to face him as you stood only inches away from the grid.  Instead, however, you bent backwards until your hands touched the ground and slowly, carefully, and deliberately flipped your way into the laser grid.  

Practiced aerial flips, impossible positions including one involving lifting one leg until it was parallel with your torso, and an impressive one-handed flip so careful and deliberate it took almost a minute to follow through, you were on the other side and disappeared into the shadows.  Within seconds Ignis felt his phone buzzing in his pocket, having set it on vibrate to minimize on sound but allow Prompto and Gladio to reach out in case they were discovered in their hiding spots outside the base.  What followed were a string of texts from you.

_Looking for the control panel._

_Found it :)_

_In the vents, waiting for an opening to take out the guards._

Within seconds of the last text, the laser grid shut down entirely, along with multiple other security measures the soldiers weren’t about to miss, you weren’t stupid enough to shut down things like the spotlights.

_All clear!  Go ahead, I’ll be right there! <3  
_

They did as you instructed, silently lowering yourself to the ground behind them, though you didn’t catch the advisor off guard.  The raven-haired heir to the throne on the other hand…

“Holy shit…” Noctis cursed under his breath, “What the hell?”

“Shh,” You hushed as you took your coat off the hands of the bespectacled man who had been keeping it safe for you, “Let’s go.”

You continued ahead, pleased for the lack of lecture from Ignis, but little did you know he was saving it for later.  The next day, in fact, when the five of you had made it to a small town and rented two rooms, one for the boys and one for yourself.  You paid for your own room, you were a grown woman and you weren’t about to share a room with four guys.  You barely withstood sharing a room with Iris in Lestallum.  She might be your baby sister but you were a loner by nature, hence your career, and she was...she was Iris.

Noctis, Gladio, and Prompto had taken off towards the diner.  You had stayed behind to take a shower, and not be surprised when you exited the bathroom to find Ignis waiting for you, seated in one of the two seats by the small circular table across from the queen-sized bed.  An average woman would be embarrassed at being caught in her pajamas if they consisted of nothing but a black spaghetti-strap and a black lace _thong_ , but you were born with the Amicitia overabundance of confidence.  It helped that hotness was actually in your DNA.

You continued drying your long hair as you sat at the foot of the motel bed and casually commented, “You know, I was surprised when I didn’t get a cranky _you were reckless_ lecture, but I see you were saving it for a more private setting.”

Ignis was about to start, but you cut him off, not being quite finished yet as you pouted playfully and your lightly damp hair fell into your face as you teased, “Was I a naughty girl?”

You had never seen someone roll their eyes so hard, you were shocked that the man’s green orbs hadn’t rolled out of his head and landed on the questionably sanitary carpet of the motel room.  It sent you into a fit of snickers and you couldn’t help the smirk gracing your lips.

“You were reckless, at the very least you should have told us what you were planning if not waited until we _knew_ there was no other way around.”

“Iggy, come on.  That was _literally_ what I was trained to do in the first place.  I’ve been slipping through laser grids like that since I was 14, the first time I did it in the field I was 16.  I was sent with you guys because I can spot an assassin aiming for Noct faster than any of you guys would be able to.  I work alone, I don’t think about telling anyone what I’m planning because I don’t _work_ with anyone,” you argued, albeit casually, as you flipped your hair over your shoulder and crossed your legs neatly with one arm draped over your thigh and the opposite palm placed against the bed.

“That has _changed_ , [Y/N], you need to communicate with us,” Ignis continued, causing you to roll your eyes.

“It’s not like it’s _easy_."

You had foolishly thought that was the end of the argument when Ignis let out an exasperated sigh and stood up, then he stood directly in front of you and lifted your chin up with his knuckle to ensure you were looking him directly in the eyes.

“Then communicate your intentions to _me_ ,” he ordered.

Your lips turned upwards into a sultry smirk you had used to lure many a mark into solitude, and therefore death, before you added, “You liked the little show, admit it.”

The speed at which Ignis closed in until your breath mingled with his caught you off guard.  Your entire life you had been the one calling the shots, in and out of the field, and never had you met someone so completely _immune_ to _all_ of your tricks.

“I would have enjoyed it more if I had not been so concerned for your well-being.”  His tone was low and authoritative, one which very, _very_ few people took with you but even then, it was never quite like _this._   Your lips parted slightly and you leaned forward and up, chasing after a kiss that would be the beginning of something _far_ more fun, but the damn man backed away and left you alone in your motel room, shocked.  After a few moments of staring at the door in shock with your eyes wide and your jaw slightly dropped in shock, your lips pressed together in a firm line and your eyes darkened.

“ _Two_ can play at this game, Scientia.”


	3. Strong (Gladiolus Amicitia)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been a rough couple of weeks. Some group of newbie jackasses kept taking all the good hunts (which everyone in the area knew to leave to you), and now Imperials were dropping their Magitech minions on anyone that looked like they posed a potential threat. You just wanted to go home and visit your family for a little bit, you were even willing to brush off the fact you locked your keys in your car. As long as nobody went and asked you stupid questions, you'd be fine.
> 
> So naturally some tattooed tough guy that can't seem to find a shirt comes and asks you a stupid question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not too sure about this one. I feel like it's all over the place and just a mess.
> 
> But I am planning a continuation of this one, so there's that.
> 
> P.S. Gladio totally has a thing for strong-willed women who take no shit.

# Strong

### Gladiolus Amicitia

 

You were an idiot.  You were such an idiot.  You’ve had this car since you were 16 and _never_ have you done something this brain-numbingly _stupid_ before.

You locked your goddamn keys in your goddamn car.

You hadn’t even noticed either.  You just grabbed your bag, made sure the top of your convertible was up and secured, locked the door, shut the windows, got out, and shut the door before making your way into town.  It had been a few months since you had been back home and you’d been living on the road since a few weeks after you graduated high school.  You’d admit you were excited to visit your family, namely your niece and nephew.

It had been a hellish couple of months, between the Imperials making their way into Lucis and harassing everybody they thought looked like they _might_ pose a _potential_ threat against them and a new group of hunters coming up and stealing _all_ of the good jobs.  After checking in at Hammerhead, noticing the only job was one you’d rather leave for the newbies (it was just dealing with your average pack of wolves and paid less than 1,000 Gil), and stopping to catch up with Cindy as she touched up your old night blue convertible (it was one of the few classic Crown City made cars left), you took off for Lestallum.  It had been a long drive, but well worth it.

You had caught up with your aging parents and your brother and his growing family, listened to your mother nag about finding a man and having your own family (which then caused you to down the rest of your beer before making a beeline for your old bedroom) and you had offered to help you sister-in-law with errands, offering to drive her to Old Lestallum to pick up some things that weren’t in Lestallum.

Your sister-in-law, Lillian, who had already taken the day off of work to spend it with you and the kids, had kindly went back home to get you a wire coat-hanger you could straighten out and stick down in the window to jimmy the driver’s door open.  With your niece, Ruby, and nephew, Jacob, along as they were _far_ too young to leave at home and Lillian wanted to give their father a day off from caring for the two troublemakers, you had to censor your child-inappropriate words as you struggled to open your door with your little blonde niece clinging to your leg.  You ignored the sleek deep violet and silver convertible that slid into an empty spot behind you.  You didn’t have time for that or the four guys that were getting out of the car.  You had your own fuck-up to focus on.

 

The first thing Gladio noticed as they pulled into the parking spot was the woman struggling to jimmy her car open with a coat hanger in a V-neck t-shirt that cut off right at the bottom of her midriff, low-hanging skinny jeans, and old combat boots that had seen better days.  Another, slightly older, woman was with her but based on the little girl that looked so much like her and the baby in her arms she was already spoken for.  The little girl, about three, was hanging around the denim-clad leg of the woman trying to jimmy her door open and was almost hiding behind her as she watched the four males get out of the car.

“Lock your keys in your car?” Gladio asked, standing by the hood of the car in an attempt to strike a conversation before offering to help.

 

The second you heard that question you snapped upright, left the coat hanger standing between your window and the outer layer of the driver’s door, and snapped your attention to the tattooed and mostly shirtless behemoth of a man.  Had you been in any other profession and from any other town you would have been wooed, or maybe even intimidated.  However, you were a huntress from Lestallum, a town run almost entirely by women, and you were just pissed.

“No, I just washed it.  Now I’m hanging it up to dry,” You snapped back, voice sharp and commanding.  That seemed to catch the man by surprise and frankly you couldn’t care less, you didn’t even care at the laughter from one of his traveling companions as another snapped a picture and laughed himself.  You didn’t break eye-contact as you gave the coat hanger another yank and popped the door open.  You yanked the car door open and snapped, “Everyone in the car!”

“Auntie [Y/N], can we put the top down?” your niece looked up at you with those big brown eyes you couldn’t say no to.

“Of course, baby,” you cooed as you picked her up to put her in the back before putting the top down, that snarky, tough exterior immediately melting as tended to your little niece.  After you took off, Gladio made his way back to the guys with a smile.  It wasn’t a secret that Gladio had a thing for strong women and there was no questioning you were a strong, independent woman who thought on her feet and based on the Hunter’s badge you had stuck to the lower left of the front of your shirt, you’d meet again.

Of course, next time you met you’d find out just _who_ stole the hunt for the one-eyed Behemoth that had been terrorizing the Chocobo ranch after the owner had already called you and asked for your help.


	4. Artist (Prompto Argentum)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You lived only minutes away from Galdin Quay and yet you hadn't been struck with the inspiration to paint the paradisaical scenery until just now.
> 
> Perhaps it was for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's really cute and adorable.
> 
> Just like Prompto.

# Artist

### Prompto Argentum

 

You met during one of many trips to Galdin Quay.  You had been there to put together the rough sketch for the painting you were planning, hopefully one you could sell.  He was there with his friends to pick up a hunt, a job from the journalist-turned-shady jeweler, and a fishing trip (that was mostly for Noct).  The photographer had caught the same view you had, sort of.  The only difference was while your perfect painting included nothing but the shore, the sea, and the surrounding rocks, his perfect photo included _you_.

Prompto didn’t even know you, he couldn’t just take a picture without your permission like he did with his friends.  He normally didn’t have any problems approaching people, not like he did in high school, but for some reason he couldn’t calm the butterflies in his stomach as he walked over to where you sat on the sand, your flip-flops sitting next to you and your sketchpad on your lap.

You looked up at the boy standing by you, he was about your age with wheat colored hair, kind blue eyes, and freckles.  He was fidgeting nervously but clutched in his hands was a camera, it wasn’t one of the large professional cameras you saw in your uncle’s shop, they were _massive_ , but it certainly wasn’t one for just snapping pictures or the average enthusiast either.  You smiled up at him, brushing your hair out of your eyes as the light sea breeze had blown it from where it was tucked behind your ear.

“Hi,” you greeted, smiling sweetly.  Prompto had convinced himself you were pretty just from looking at you from a distance behind you…but _wow_.  He had heard his (adoptive) father talk about the differences between ‘pretty,’ ‘gorgeous,’ and ‘beautiful,’ but he never understood until now.  The girls at school had been pretty, Cindy was gorgeous, but you…beautiful didn’t seem to cut it.  You seemed so at place sitting in the sand with your knees bent at your side, your sketch pad on your legs which were left mostly bare by your old denim shorts which likely covered the matching bottom to your sea green bikini top which was poorly covered by the oversized green and black plaid button-up you had slipped on before you traversed to the shore.  Your soft lips, at least they _looked_ soft, turned up in a kind smile that reached up to your big eyes, your delicate hand held the pencil in your dominant hand while the other held your sketchbook steady.  While your sketch was far from complete, Prompto could already see the talented strokes which illustrated the scenery before you.

“Hi…uh…I was taking some pictures and uh…” he had never asked a stranger to be in a picture before.  He hadn’t even talked to a girl like _you_ before.

“Oh, you need me to move?” You reached to grab your sandals, ready to get up, before the boy stopped you.

“No, no I was wondering if you were okay with being in some of them…” he asked, stopping you from getting up.  You looked up at him with wide eyes, surprised.

“Y-yeah, sure, as long as you don’t do anything creepy with them,” you brushed off your shock with a light joke to lighten the mood.

“I promise, Crownsguard's honor,” Prompto replied with a smile and dramatically placing a hand over his heart, his smile growing when you giggled.

As Prompto went about taking pictures, you went back to sketching.  He showed you some of the pictures, elated when you complimented him.  They really were great pictures, and you offered to tell your uncle to give him a way into the field, in case he ever wanted to go professional.  He told you there were a few things he had to take care of first, but he’d be sure to take you up on that offer right after they were done.

You pulled your phone out and asked for his name and number, acting like it was just to keep in contact about his photos but you genuinely liked him.  He grinned the second you asked, pulling out his own phone and letting his camera hang from the strap around his neck as you two exchanged contact information.

“Prompto!  Let’s go!” Noctis called as he, Ignis, and Gladio made their way to the Regalia.

“Looks like your friends are calling,” you commented as the two of you looked towards the parking lot.

“Yeah uh…is it okay if I text you later?” Prompto asked shyly, “I mean…just to talk…”

“Yeah,” you barely suppressed your grin into a smile, “I’d like that.”

 _“Prompto!”_ Gladio called this time, it was late in the afternoon and they only had so much time to make their way back to Duscae.

“I gotta go, I’ll talk to you later,” Prompto left his farewell at that as he took a few steps back, not wanting to leave.

“Talk to you later,” you waved with one hand as you held your sketchbook in the other, “I’ll text you a picture of the finished painting, I’ll show you next time you’re in the area.”

“Great!  See ya!” Prompto grinned with a spring in his step before he jogged back to his friends, slipping into the front seat with a wide grin as he flipped through the pictures saved on the SD card in his camera.  He kept flipping through them as they sped off, bringing his best friend to lean over to take a look at the photos.

“That the girl you were talking to?” Noctis asked, the question catching Gladio’s attention who then leaned over the back of Prompto’s seat to take a look at the photos.

“Yeah, she’s a painter.”


	5. Dance (Noctis Lucis Caelum)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As part of the aristocracy, you had to attend seasonal gatherings to make nice with the other members of the aristocracy. It wasn't your scene, you'd rather be at home reading or training with your mother. Never in a million years did you think these gatherings would foster a bond between you and the Prince.
> 
> All because of one dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU...ish? I have two ideas to continue this one. One is really angsty and follows the plot of the game. The other one is definitely an AU and fluffy.
> 
> Thoughts?

# Dance

### Noctis Lucis Caelum

 

Noctis didn’t actively _hate_ much of anything.  There were things, and people, he disliked or avoided, he was particular about the people he let surround him as well as the things he liked.  It was a bit of a safety mechanism, as a prince there were people who would attempt to get close to him to gain power and the like, so he made it a point to keep his distance.  There were, however two things he absolutely _detested_.

Vegetables, and _dancing._

The first time the two of you had met you were children, barely old enough to attend one of the many parties that gathered the upper class and nobles of the country together.  At 11 it had been Prince Noctis’ second time at the Spring gathering, whatever the hell it was actually called he already decided he hated these things, and at 10 it had been your first.

Despite your mother being a former Glaive, who began training you the second you asked when you were 8, she absolutely _insisted_ on you being the best-dressed little girl at the party, which was how you found yourself in the pale blue dress decorated with ornate patterns of flowers stitched in white.  Your long hair was tied up into an ornate bun with a rare (and preserved) blue rose tucked into it.  Of course, you were far too young for heels or make up and while you didn’t want to, your mother never would have let you.

You hovered around the other children your age, following your mother’s orders at attempting to make friends while you would much rather sit with the adults and learn about politics.  You were very clever for your age, too clever your worrying father would say, and it made you stick out.  You had already memorized the faces of the nobles and politicians at the party, remembering who lived where and what role they played in keeping Lucis functioning.  You had also remembered the path from the ballroom to the library from five years ago, when your father took you along to a council meeting at your insistence and after sitting patiently for hours King Regis had kindly taken you on a short tour of the palace.  You wanted nothing more than to abscond to the library to read, but you knew the second you did your mother would grab your hand and drag you back.

If she didn’t do it, your uncle Cor sure would have.

So, there you sat, not making any friends and more focused on the swinging on your white buckled shoes as they swung back and forth.  You were the _one_ kid that wasn’t vying for the Prince’s attention, and the one girl that wasn’t clinging to him in hopes of becoming a princess someday, and it seemed like all the others were actively _avoiding_ you.  Having missed out on the memo that you were that weird smart kid who already knew how to shoot a gun or use a sword, or maybe even actively ignoring the memo, he made his way to the seat next to you.  After exchanging shy ‘hello’s you went back to silence.

The two of you didn’t talk, just sat next to each other at every party for every season, enjoying the chance to stay _away_ from the other kids.  You started talking the next year.

It wasn’t until you were 14 and he was 15 that the two of you were forced to dance.

Having already grown into a beautiful young woman and caught the attention of many boys around your age, you found yourself constantly dragged out to the dance floor.  The Prince met a similar fate, having to deal with his father and Ignis if he wasn’t talking with someone or dancing with a girl.  He only hated these gatherings more and more as he got older.

Noctis _finally_ pried himself away from a chatty brunette (or blonde? He really wasn’t paying attention) when he saw you thanking a waiter as you took a wine glass of water from him.  He made a beeline right to you and grabbed a glass of water himself.  You were adorned in your usual light blue, this time a long-sleeved dress that fell off of your shoulders to adapt to the winter weather, a silver snowflake on a thin chain around your neck, and your hair tied into a neat braid decorated with barely noticeable strands of silver and small snowflakes.  Your red painted lips turned up in a smirk as you raised one of the brows over your eyes shadowed by pale blue.

“What’s wrong?  I thought she seemed nice,” you teased, earning a half-hearted glare from the Prince and making your smirk grow.

“She wouldn’t stop talking,” Noctis groaned, “Something about her family’s new Chocobo farm?”

“No, that was Letrice, she was two dances ago.  You know, the girl with the bright red hair and freckles?” You corrected, “The last girl was Melinda, her family is from Galdin Quay.  She was probably talking about the new yacht her family just got.  It was custom made and rumor has it there’s an entire room with a reinforced glass floor you can see the ocean through.”

“Wait, I thought you were from Galdin Quay,” Noctis narrowed his eyes as he struggled to keep everyone and everything straight.

“No, I’m from Cape Caem, that place your dad keeps all his personal boats,” you corrected, helpfully.  This boy would have long since lost his head and offended somebody if you hadn’t been there to tell him what he needed to know.  King Regis and Ignis had been concerned what would happen without somebody _constantly_ at the Prince’s side helping him keep everyone straight, but then you just came out of nowhere like a blessing from the Astrals.  Normally you were patient with the prince, though you didn’t hide your amusement, but sometimes Noctis said something that you just couldn’t help but laugh at.  The poor boy was helpless.

“We have _boats_?”

You barely stopped the water from coming out of your nose as you laughed.  You were so busy laughing you didn’t notice the girls making eyes at Noctis, though you always assumed they were there.  He wasn’t just a prince but a handsome young man as well, you’d be a complete fool not to notice that.  You thought he was taking your water out of thoughtfulness, he had a soft side he kept mostly for a select few and children, but then he grabbed your hand and dragged you out to the dance floor.

That was the pattern for another six years.  He would be stuck dancing with girls he could barely stand to listen to, run to you, and pull you to the dance floor, then stay glued to your side to avoid the other girls.  You would, of course, force him to dance with the other girls, as a single prince should, but he’d find his way back to you as soon as he could.

Days after your twentieth birthday was the year’s Summer gathering.  You were an adult, old enough to become betrothed despite your father’s wants and wishes for you to stay his baby girl for the rest of your life, and you had instantaneously become the _belle of the ball._    Your strapless pale blue dress had a shimmer to the fabric of the evening gown that clung to your form from the waist up, your long hair was left down and left mostly to its natural state with a few sprays of hairspray to keep it tamed.  The pale lavender shades that shadowed your eyes and the elegant black that lined them only served to bring them out and the deep red that painted your lips had an unspeakable allure.  You sat at one of the round, decorated tables surrounding the center of the ballroom, with your side to the table, and held a glass of white wine in your delicate hands, one leg crossed elegantly over the other as you were careful not to catch your white heels on your dress.

You had chased off multiple suitors, just like the year before, and the gathering had only started 15 minutes ago.  To your distain, it was far too early for Noctis to find his way over to you, at least that’s what you thought until he stood in front of you in your seat.

“Uh-uh,” you teased, “It’s far too early for you to call it quits.  You need to go back out there and start talking to potential future queens before you come running back to me.  We have a rule, remember?  Look for a queen for an hour, then you can call it quits.”

“I remember,” Noctis replied, placing his glass of amber liquid courage on the table before holding his hand out to you, “Just what do you think I’m doing?”

“Um…I…okay,” you were taken by surprise, leaving your wine on the table as you to the Prince’s hand and let him lead you to the center of the dance floor before placing a hand on your waist and pulling you close against him.  You smiled and couldn’t hold back your giggle when the prince smiled at you and insisted on spending the entire night with you.  It was the first time one of these gatherings you so loathed became, as cliché as it sounded, a magical experience.

“I know you really like blue, but what would you say to wearing black next time?” Noctis asked lightly as the night ended, as if he was joking to put off goodbye, which was probably why your answer sent him for a loop.

“Visit me in Cape Caem and we’ll talk,” you offered, your painted lips turning up in a coy smile.

“I, uh, yeah.  Yeah.  I’ll see you there.  Uh…next week okay?” Noctis asked shyly, stuttering and stumbling over his words.  It only got worse when you left him with a kiss on his cheek before joining your parents in the luxury car that would take the three of you home.

“You seem to have taken a great interest in the [L/N] girl, I overheard you intend on visiting her.”

Noctis groaned the second his father brought it up, simply because the man had been convinced his son would find the value of these damn gatherings when he got older.

“She’s a clever girl.  I hope you have fun.”

To think…every precious moment he shared with you all started with one dance…

 


	6. Freedom (No Pairing Yet)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've never been free, and after 21 years you've come to accept that. Even after learning your twin found a home and freedom you've accepted it. It was just never meant for you. You thought you had accepted that, you were nothing but a weapon.
> 
> ...Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't put 'Could Be Any Of The Chocobros' in the title cause you're related to one of them in this one-shot (soon to be series of one-shots?). Your appearance is decided here for plot reasons, sorry.
> 
> AU-ish, again. I guess I don't really have to title it 'AU' but I generally put it there even if I tweaked something small, it's a 'better safe than sorry' kind of thing. Again, not sure about this one but I'm posting it anyway. I'm not quite sure why I'm not just leaving it on my computer with the other five hundred million stories and one-shots that are sitting there to gather dust and never be seen again until I go through and read them because I've been drinking and feel like torturing myself.
> 
> Full disclosure. If I'm not re-playing Final Fantasy XV I'm playing either Final Fantasy VI, VII or VIII so this idea probably came from one of them (most likely VII). Not even kidding. I blame iTunes for making it possible to play classic Final Fantasy games on my iPhone.
> 
> Flexibility Pt. 2 is almost done, I promise.

# Freedom

### No Pairing (Yet)

 

You were a normal girl with a normal family in a normal house.

In your dreams.

No, really, you dreamed about a normal life with a normal family.  Staring down at the intricate barcode wrapped around your wrist since birth, you knew that was too much to ask.  At least it had been for you, and your particularly unique circumstances.  There had been others like you, but none nearly as successful.  Most of the other _successful_ ones were Magitech soldiers, most of which were just…you weren’t sure what to think of them.  At least, that was all you knew until your _rebellious_ stage hit during your teen years.  During those years, you commonly snuck out of your carefully monitored room to break into the secured files, one copy kept only in print to prevent anyone hacking into these particularly sensitive files.  It was there you gathered every piece of information you could, and learned you had a twin.  A brother, and while he was both stable and human he wasn’t a “success.”

Not like you.

You would never put yourself in the same group as the Magitech soldiers, you’d like to see any of them do what you could do, but they were as close to you as the Empire could get.  Nobody knew what made you what you were, you were a _fluke._ Still, the fact that the boy was nothing but _normal_ was one of many reasons he found himself in the safe adoption of a family, you liked to think one of those reasons was your father took pity on him.  A family that loved him, you hoped.  Based on the reports you read they did, the Imperials were sure to keep an eye on them as much as they could in case he developed abilities like the ones you had been born with (he was safe behind the walls of Insomnia.)

When you turned 20, the reality of the world, and your lifetime of training snapped into place.  It was foolish and childish to cling to reports about someone you never met in the hopes you could forge a connection because you shared DNA and weren’t _dead_.  Wishful thinking may have allowed you to keep your own mind, but now you were older and had to accept reality, even if it killed what individuality you had managed to cling to.  That individuality would only serve to kill you, if you were lucky.  So, after seeing reason, you gave up and focused on your duties.  Mainly the _one_ duty you were given to ‘escort’ the once Prince of Tenebrea (or as you mentally referred to it ‘Mission: Babysit Ravus Nox Fleuret and be prepared to kill him because the Emperor doesn’t trust him).  That was how you ended up at an Imperial base in Duscae, when the two of you would have been better served in Insomnia.

You had been sitting back and watching as Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum and his entourage snuck through the base all to reclaim their _car_.  You had heard people got attached to their cars but this was just…it was ridiculous.  Just get a new car.  All things considered, any Lucian would be willing to just _give_ the prince their car.

Whatever, that wasn’t your problem.  You just stayed hidden as they made their way through the base and to their car.

You stuck out against those who normally surrounded you.  Ravus, Aranea, and the Chancellor were dressed in ornate clothes or armor of the finest make, and of course the Emperor was dressed in the best.  Perhaps the most _normal_ were the scientists with their white coats...when they weren't poking, prodding, and scanning you to try to replicate the _mistake_ that made you or wearing hazmat suits like you were _diseased_.  You, however, were not one of them.  You were a _weapon_ to follow orders and nothing more (with exception of Aranea who would treat you to your choice of dinner when you worked together).  You recognized how they saw you and what they thought of you, why you were never allowed to say anything other than _yes sir_ or _yes ma’am_.  That didn’t mean you envied their clothes.  You were perfectly comfortable in your low-hanging skinny jeans, white tank top, blue sweatshirt with black sleeves and hood, and old and worn black combat boots.  It fit you far better than some fancy white coat or a helmet shaped like a dragon’s head.  You did go well out of your way to get your ears pierced when Aranea lied about needing your help for another day, but as you kept your hood up most always or were shut away in your cell-like room it didn’t matter much.

The sun had risen and the Prince and his entourage were making their way to their car, or attempting to, after practically clearing out the base.  That was when Ravus made his move.  You stayed behind, keeping your hood up and your head down but letting your long blonde braid slip over your shoulder and down to your waist.  Your pale blue eyes scanning the four men you were to kill, if it came to it, before freezing.

No…was it…

Everything you had been telling yourself over the past two years became questionable as you found yourself looking at a young man your age which resembled you far too much for it to be a coincidence.  The pictures of your twin had been taken during his childhood but you still recognized him.  You couldn’t know for sure…but…you… _hoped?_

You’d been watching the four of them, though the prince and his advisor had been the ones sneaking through the base until they could open the doors for their friends.  You weren’t an idiot, you knew people worked together and had friends, that just wasn’t the fate for you.

_It won’t be your fate if you don’t do anything about it.  You’re strong, they’re not tracking you, and you’re in a different country._

You liked to think that was the driving force between this decision, but it was really that childish hope at making a connection with the only family you had.

The prince of Lucis swung first, easily being blocked by Ravus before the blonde’s counter attack was blocked by the Crown Shield.  As the two parted you easily recognized the fight brewing, pulling one hand out of your jacket pocket and holding it up, forming a transparent red barrier between the two.  It took the tattooed shield by surprise, but Ravus just looked irritated.  You had done this before, blocked him from a fight to bring him back to the mission at hand, and every time he rolled his eyes and nearly sneered at you.  This time, however, he just smirked like he had the upper hand, a secret _weapon_.

_That’s all you are.  A weapon.  You could take them, all of them.  Just make a damn **choice**._

“Lucis has their weapons, the Empire has their own.”

_Weapon._

Your outstretched hand began to shake, not from exhaustion but from fury.  Twenty-one years of repressed emotions, _humanity_ , came rushing forward.  You knew what they thought of you, but they had never said it aloud, not when you were around, until now.  Now that it had been said…

You pulled your other hand from your jacket pocket and used it to manipulate the barrier to wrap around Ravus before tossing him aside like a rag doll.  You ran towards the four Lucians, even more confused than ever now, and snapped at them to get moving.  There wasn’t much time now.  You and Ravus had been a distraction, Magitech soldiers and heavy weaponry were only seconds away.  You’d have to fight your way through to shut down the base and grab the car.

Or…they would…you were prepared for the end.  It didn’t matter that you were throwing up barriers and taking out soldiers before they could get a cheap shot at the Lucian prince and his friends, they’d leave you behind once they were free to leave.  It was the logical thing to do and you’d do it too, especially as the five of you were becoming outnumbered and overcome.

“Clear out!” Noctis ordered.  You assumed it was a tactful retreat, the logical approach, but when the shadow of Ramuh overtook the base and you looked up to see the mountain of a man reaching out to pull Noctis to safety you understood the plan.  The Astral likely wouldn’t care about the safety of anyone but the Crown Prince who summoned him, which made the fact that the blonde gunner had been surrounded and prevented from getting to safety all the more distressful.

Without thinking you dashed forward, sliding through the Magitech soldiers surrounding the boy and stood up to raise your hand to the sky, forming a barrier around the two of you only seconds before powerful bolts of violet tinted lightning struck the ground, and you.  The lightning flowed through your barrier and directed itself right through you, forcing a bloodcurdling scream as you struggled to keep the barrier up.  You forced yourself through consciousness until it was over, the sky clearing and the Astral disappearing as darkness overtook your vision and all feeling left your body as you felt yourself falling.  Perhaps that was the best, your landing on the paved ground was quite harsh.

The power core was going to go at any moment, they had to grab the Regalia and get the hell out, but Prompto wasn’t about to leave the girl there.  Not when she just got electrocuted by an Astral to save him.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me, we don’t have time!” Gladio snapped, putting the safety of the prince and his inner circle above all else.  It was his _job_.  He didn’t like it, the idea of leaving the girl behind to die made him physically sick, but she was an enemy and a very powerful one.  Taking her with them would be an incredible risk.

“Prompto’s right,” Noctis agreed, Gladio started to argue but the prince took a firm stand, “Without her we’d be dead!”

Noctis, as much of a smartass as he could be, was often laid back and rarely took a firm stand on much of anything.  When he did, however, nobody could argue with him.  It was that fact that made Gladio reluctantly pick up the small girl and grimace when he noticed just how small she was, far too small for a woman her age and height, likely a result of years of malnourishment.  They made a sprint to the Regalia and didn’t even bother taking the time to close the doors before Ignis hit the accelerator and sped out of there.

Prompto and Noctis looked behind them as the power core blew, taking the base with it, before settling back down in their seats.  Prompto was still looking behind him as Noctis focused on healing the blonde-haired girl that had just saved them, the familiar blue magic ignoring the bruises and lacerations and working to heal the internal damage Ramuh’s lightning had certainly caused.  During the fight the girl had pushed the sleeves of her hoodie up to her elbows, revealing the barcode tattooed around her wrist.

Prompto couldn’t stop from silently thanking the Six that Noctis had an internal need to help everyone in need, even if it was just a fetch quest to get _beans_ of all things.  Prompto just couldn’t have left the girl behind, not when she betrayed her country and spelled her death sentence, not when she took a hit from an Astral to save him, and certainly not when he saw that tattoo.

He couldn’t leave her behind.


	7. The Tables Have Turned (Flexibility Pt. 2)(Ignis Scientia)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks, two weeks of every move you could think of and nothing. You were going to figure this out.
> 
> You were going to win.

# The Tables Have Turned (Flexibility Pt. 2)

### Ignis Scientia

 

Two weeks, _two damn weeks_ since that damn tease and _nothing_.  You had been throwing your best charms at the man, ranging from cute and cliché to sultry and seductive, and _nothing!_   How was that even possible?  You won 50 Gil each from _five_ of your fellow Glaives (one being Gladio) off of a bet that you couldn’t get _Cor Leonis_ to blush!  You won that bet dammit!  What the hell?

These past two weeks have, on top of your frustrations regarding the four-eyed strategist and his damn accent, sucked.  After a hunt for blue flan two days ago you got what you could only describe as blue _goop_ all over your Kingsglaive uniform and there was no way you’d be able to get it out without an actual washing machine.  You were stuck in your old denim shorts, white V-neck t-shirt (which fit a bit loose and ended in one side of the wide neck hanging off of your shoulder more often than not), and an old pair of black low-tops.  It was a blessing in disguise, you supposed, considering the heat of the Lestallum area, but you took pride in being a Glaive and hoped you could get to a laundromat soon.

You made it to Lestallum at 10 at night, and after a long day of driving, everyone was tired and hungry.  You stopped for dinner at the diner before hitting the Leville and going to bed.  You’d be spending all day getting that blue goop out of your uniform, you figured you might as well make a day of it as you told the others to give you their laundry to wash.  Ignis argued, insisting that they had to do their own laundry, before you held up your uniform jacket.

“It’s going to take all day to get this crap out without ruining the leather, and don’t get me started on getting it out of my jeans.  I might as well make a day of it,” you pointed out and ignored your brother’s cringe as you added, “Look, I’m too tired to argue and I’ve been fighting in a _push-up_ bra for the past two days.  You have no idea how exhausting it is trying to fight when the girls are right under my chin and bouncing all over the place.  I’m going to bed Iggs.”

“I could have lived a happy life without knowing that,” Gladio offered his own commentary as he made his way to the room the boys were sharing, “I’m gonna’ go drink until I forget.”

“You know, you flirt with a lot of girls for a guy with two sisters,” Prompto pointed out as he followed the shield into the hotel room, Noctis having gone to bed the second you got the keys to your rooms.  With a teasing wave, you turned to unlock the door to your own room before sauntering through the door and shutting it behind you, the lock clicking less than a second later.  In the solitude of the hall, Ignis allowed himself to lean back against the hall and lift his glasses to rub at his green eyes.

You were going to be the _death_ of him.  You had been chipping at his self-control since leaving Insomnia, from the way you bit your bottom lip to that clever tongue that always seemed to surprise him.  He liked to think he was prepared for everything, but you always seemed to surprise him.  He had not expected you to saunter out in practically _nothing_ two weeks ago and act just as confidently as you would have fully dressed, perhaps even more so, and he certainly hadn’t expected the turn his thoughts took after you asked one playful question with a pout on your lips.

_“Was I a naughty girl?”_

What you thought of as a game was really the end of his self-discipline and control.  You had already been dancing on dangerously thin ice but now you were just playing with _fire_.  These few seconds of solitude were all that was keeping him from picking the lock on your hotel room, throwing you on _whatever_ piece of furniture you were closest to, and lavishing you until the only word you were capable of recognizing was his name.  He needed another approach…

_Like playing along._

You wanted a game, you would have your game.

 

After breakfast, you hovered over the boys until they gave you their laundry and took off for the nearest laundromat.  You tied your long hair into a ponytail so you weren’t constantly brushing it out of your eyes as you worked, separating the laundry before placing the different loads into different washing machines and beginning to work on your uniform.  Whenever you did the laundry you found yourself questioning just _what_ you got yourself into when you left Insomnia.

_How in the hell does Noct manage to fuck up the same button?  I just fixed this thing last week!_

_Would you look at that, Gladio does own a shirt…maybe I should remind him to wear it._

_I’m not even going to ask Prompto what that is, I don’t want to know._

_Would you look at that, Iggy gave me his laundry to do-wait what?_

Ignis _never_ gave you his laundry to do, the two of you were willing to share the duties of taking care of the others but never depended on other people.  It was a shared trait you quickly recognized, so what in the hell was he-

“It appears I’m not too late.”          

Your attention was brought from the dark dress shirt in your hands to the man standing next to you as he rolled up the sleeves of his white and blue striped button-up up to his elbows, leaving his gloves on.  You began internally kicking yourself, years of teasing friends or relatives when they were forced into wearing suspenders and here you were being immensely turned on by the pale gray suspenders Ignis was wearing.  You ripped your gaze away and mentally begged every single one of the Six to strike you down.  You didn’t care who or how, just as long as one of them killed you before you admitted you were turned on by his bare forearms.

_What in the hell is wrong with you?_

“I can take care of this myself, I was just about to start the first load,” You tried to send the man off somewhere before you did something you’d regret.

“Then I’ll start on your uniform,” Ignis offered as he picked up your goop stained jacket and inspected it.

“I’m a big girl, I can take care of it,” You replied as you grabbed your jacket and set it with the necessary chemicals to remove the strange blue goop (you were going to have a long talk with Noct about where he threw those Fira flasks, you would have liked a heads up about the way they caused enemies to _explode_ ).  You quickly tossed the first load into the washing machine and started it before focusing on the project that was reviving your uniform, so focused that you never noticed the advisor closing in behind you until you could feel the heat of his chest against your back.  He placed his right hand against the washing machine in front of you but not his left, giving you an out.

An out you weren’t going to take, not even when he leaned forward and _taunted_ you.

“This is true, but in my experience, you are also a very poorly behaved girl as well,” He spoke just loud enough for you to hear.  To the other patrons of the laundromat it looked like he was a friend simply helping with your chores, not your latest challenge taunting and teasing you in ways you’ve never been before.

He was doing all of it _deliberately_!  You said two could play at this game and you _meant_ it dammit!  You deftly spun on your heel to face Ignis as you tilted your chin to look directly into his green eyes and allow your breath to mingle with his.

“To my defense, I’ve heard it said the most dangerous women are seldom well-behaved,” You replied just as softly, lightly tracing your pointer finger in intricate patterns on Ignis’ chest.  He slowly leaned in closer before pulling away in an instant, snatching your uniform jacket before pulling away and beginning to work on cleaning your uniform as you focused on the rest of the laundry.  You continued to work, both of you purposely invading each other’s space.  You went out of your way to brush the palm of your hand across Ignis’ firm ass, something you’d been admiring for quite a while, and if the way he momentarily froze before snapping his attention to you as you placed a clean load in the dryer you caught him off guard.

You were back in the game.

By some miracle, the man managed to de-goop your uniform, for which you kissed him on the cheek just shy of his lips, and barely hid your cocky smirk when you noticed the way he barely stopped himself from chasing after a real kiss.  You delivered the clean laundry and joined the boys for dinner where you lectured Noctis about giving a decent heads up if he’s going to cause your enemies to literally explode (which led to a lecture about testing out his spell flasks before using them in a fight after he admitted he had no idea the Fira would be that much stronger than a regular Fire) before making your way back to your bedroom where you kicked off your sneakers and pulled your t-shirt off just before there was a knock at your door.

“Who is it?”

_“Ignis.”_

You walked around the queen-sized bed to open the door, standing behind the door as the tall, lithe man made his way into your hotel room before you closed the door behind him.  You stepped around him, your footsteps silent on the hotel carpet, as you pulled your hair out of the ponytail you put it in and shook your hair loose.  There was a brief moment of silence as the strategist observed the way your hips swayed with every graceful step, appreciating the fact you were dressed only in your shorts, white lace bra, and what he suspected was a matching thong based on prior experience with you and the lace straps of your thong peeking out from your shorts.

With a tight grip on your hip, Ignis spun you around before backing you up against the circular table in your hotel room and cornering you there.  You placed your hands on his biceps, looking up at him and tossing your hair back with a confidant smile.

“I’ll admit you threw me off my game for a bit but from the looks of it I’m back in the lead,” you teased as your lips began to purse into a smirk.

“You’re treading on dangerous ground, kitten,” Ignis warned, his voice low as he watched you like a predator cornering his prey, his green eyes dark as his inhibitions began to slip away.  He had been in complete control as he began to join in your little game, but you still had some tricks up your sleeve.  He might have had the upper hand when it started this morning, and the past two weeks, but you easily regained territory and threw him completely off guard.  Once again, as you practically danced through your hotel room with a sway of your hips and a flick of your hair, you made your way through his carefully constructed discipline and self-control and once again coaxed out his baser instincts.

“Someone as smart as you should have figured out, _there’s nothing I enjoy more than dangerous ground_.”

Ignis’ kiss was heated, bruising, and you enjoyed every second as you combed one hand through his neatly styled hair as he pulled you towards the bed.  You pushed him down, practically grinning as you straddled his lap and leaned over like you were going to kiss him, enjoying the way his hands felt on your thighs, slowly caressing as one hand slowly trailed to slip his fingers underneath the edge of your shorts.

“It’s a shame I’m the only one who knows their way around dangerous ground,” you pouted as soon as your lips were a hair’s breadth away from his own.  In the blink of an eye you pulled away with an elegant spin on the balls of your feet before practically skipping to the bathroom and shutting the door.  The sound of the lock clicking and the shower starting brought Ignis out of his daze, suddenly realizing you had done to him what he had done to you.  You had turned the tables on him.

He would simply have to turn them back.


	8. Light In The Darkness (Prompto Argentum)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You met during the ten-year darkness, an unexpected partner to help you survive became so much more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to end in pure smut (the first of the series) but then it turned into this cute, romantic story and I couldn't bring myself to ruin it with sin. I'm talking tooth-rottingly sweet, approaching Disney territory romantic. I'll make up for it, I promise. For now, off to math homework.

# Light In The Darkness

### Prompto Argentum

 

Six years into the ten year Starscourge they split up.  It wasn’t for a good reason, they’d all admit that, but they’d also admit that there was _no_ good reason for them to have split up.  They should have stayed together, but…

It they hadn’t split up he never would have met _you_ , so Prompto had to admit he was grateful for it.  He had come across survivors on their way to Hammerhead, the safest settlement in the area, under attack by deamons.  Someone was holding them off from the defenseless civilians but he wasn’t just going to stand by and do _nothing_.  That was when he saw you, fending off deamons with a dual-bladed staff and shouting orders in an authoritative voice that contrasted the fact you were only 22 or 23 at the time.

You were snapping at the others to make a run for it, you’d keep the deamons off of them as long as you could, when someone started landing shots and taking out the smaller ones with each shot.  You weren’t going to question it, you had learned to accept help when you were lucky enough to have it land in your lap.  You saw the mysterious helper out of the corner of your eye, working with him to clear out enough of the deamons to give the survivors a decent head start before making a run for it before more showed up.  You sprinted the rest of the way to Hammerhead, still almost a mile away, before stopping to catch your breath.

“Thanks, I thought I was done for,” you said through gasps of breath, leaning against your double-bladed staff to keep from falling over.  The clip you normally used to keep your hair out of your eyes had perished in a dangerously close-call from one of the Iron Giants so you had to blow your hair out of your face when you looked up to thank your savior.

“No problem, I couldn’t leave a damsel in distress, or…er…not that you were in distress-“

“No, no, I was _definitely_ in distress, I just hide it well,” you replied lightly, twirling your staff with one hand before hooking it to the leather strap you used to keep it secured on your back and wiped your hands on the old blue and black flannel shirt you wore with a gray tank top, black low-rise skinny jeans, and black boots that had seen better days (those days being six years ago before the end of the fucking world).

“Your family should be safe here,” the blonde nodded, looking over to the survivors who were making their way to the Hammerhead garage and diner, now turned into two different safehouses.

“Oh, my family isn’t with them,” you corrected as you watched the travelers settle, “My family died back when the Empire sacked Insomnia.  Lucky thing I had already started my Glaive training, Cor practically dragged me out of the city.  You’re Prompto, right?  We thought you and the rest of the Crownsguard were sticking together.”

“We were but…things…happened…” Prompto didn’t want to talk about it, it was still fresh.

“Say no more, I’m not gonna’ pry,” you replied as you casually lifted your hand to signal for him to stop.  You weren’t going to try and pry into his life, it was _his_ life and _his_ business and _definitely_ not yours.  Besides, you had just met about 15 minutes ago, if you count him saving your ass. 

“Just let me know when the hero king gets off his ass, I’d like a heads up before I get blinded by the sun,” you joked lightly, giggling when the blonde gunner laughed.

It had been a while since he honestly laughed, a long while.  He couldn’t help but think, he was alone, you were alone…maybe…

“Hey, you want to stick together?  It would be safer, for both of us I mean-“

“Anything that decreases my chances of dying sounds _fantastic_.”

The two of you stayed in Hammerhead for a few days (based on the clocks you did, it was hard to tell without the sun).  After that you took off with no real destination in mind other than places people had lived before the Starscourge, looking for people searching for somewhere safe to live until it was all over.

The Post-Apocalypse (as you insisted on referring to it) allowed for a lot of time to talk and get to know someone, especially when you spent practically every second of every day with each other.  It wasn’t long until you found yourselves occasionally, and absentmindedly, intertwining your hand with Prompto’s (or maybe he initiated it, neither of you were sure) as you wandered through the endless, deamon infested darkness until that became a regular thing.  Soon after that you found yourselves huddled close together when hiding in a nearby cave or abandoned building to rest, your weapons close by in case of a deamon attack but your head leaning on Prompto’s shoulder as he held you close with his chin resting on your head.  Sometimes you’d share stories of your lives before the Starscourge, or even before King Regis’ attempt to create peace with the Imperials. 

As you listened to one of his stories or told one of your own, you would end up taking his hand that wasn’t holding you close and hold your hand against his, entangling your fingers with his like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.  He’d catch you off guard, pulling you into his lap and pulling you close.  That embrace led to innocent kisses, which led to more heated kisses and wandering hands, which led you to this.

Hidden behind the counter of a gas station convenience store in Aster Slough, the doors shut, locked, and reinforced with what shelves you could use, you were straddling Prompto’s hips and seated directly over his hardening erection and your hands on your bare chest to brace yourself.  You had slipped off your flannel shirt and tank top, leaving you in an old blue bra and your jeans, as you tried to figure out just why Prompto was smiling up at you like that as he laid back on the blanket he insisted on putting down to keep bare skin from hitting the chilly tile floor.

“What the is up with you?” you were giggling to try and cover up the red tinge across your cheeks, “You look like my dad when he got high and mom brought him a bag of Funyuns and a bunch of cupcakes.”

Prompto laughed and grinned up at you before answering, “I just love you is all.”

You rolled your eyes and smiled down at him as you teased, “You’re such a dork.”

“Yeah,” Prompto’s grin never faltered, “But I’m _your_ dork.”

“Yeah,” you faked an exasperated sigh as you leaned over to kiss the grinning blonde, giving him the opening to flip you over and take charge, using one arm to keep him from crushing you as he used his other hand to unbutton and unzip your jeans before letting you shimmy out of them and your panties.  He began to help you, slowly kissing his way down your neck, down the valley of your breasts and your stomach as he slid your jeans and panties down until you could kick them off.

He was always like this, slow and romantic like he was worshiping you.  He was worshiping you, he was going to make damn sure he didn’t take you for granted.  You were the only light left in this world, the light in his life, and there was no doubt in his mind you’d still be the brightest part of his life long after the sun returned to the world.  There were a lot of bumps in the road that brought him to you and there were times he had to wonder just why he had to go through it, but now he knew.  It was just the road to you.

He wouldn’t change a thing, as long as it always lead him to you.


	9. Rescued (Freedom Pt. 2) (No Pairing Yet)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You had fully expected to die, you just took a pretty direct hit from a damn Astral and even if you had survived you fully expected the four to leave you there to your death (it was the tactical and logical approach). Instead, you find yourself in their care. You expected an interrogation but instead find a warm meal and curatives.
> 
> This was...unlike anything you had ever experienced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a Chocobro in mind for the 'Freedom' series in this collection, I promise.

# Rescued (Freedom Pt. 2)

### No Pairing Yet

 

You woke with a groan, the moment you opened your eyes all you saw was black. 

You panicked and had to consciously keep yourself calm.

Your usual room still had a window (reinforced, barred, and heavily guarded on the other side) but the box… _the box…_

You sat up, slowly, in the beginnings of an anxiety attack as you kept your breaths slow and deep as you counted your way through one to ten backwards and forwards, before a slight gust of wind rustled the tent flaps and sent the smell of food (delicious food) your way.  You felt a slight tinge of pain in your stomach, the last time you had eaten was the day before you found yourself with Ravus at the Imperial base, some generic slop given to all Magitech soldiers in carefully measured portions to prevent running out of it.  Only just enough to keep you all alive, just like the past 21 years of your life.  You had only smelled something like _this_ when you were sent out with Aranea to Altissia.  She liked to treat you to food, she treated you well and it always threw you off, but she only ever had time to give you fast food or fries from a diner.  She was the closest thing to a friend you had.

Throwing those thoughts aside, you looked around to gather your surroundings and found you jacket and boots to your side.  You slipped your jacket back on, but didn’t touch the zipper as it would risk making too much sound as would putting on your boots.  Instead you carefully pulled yourself out of the sleeping bag you had been tucked into and silently moved until you were crouched by the tent flaps, pulling it aside only enough to examine the campsite.

Four chairs, set around a campfire, a second tent, a kitchen set, and you could see a road less than a mile away.  You felt the slow and faint pulsing of the blue ruins carved into the rock, not enough to harm you or even give you any discomfort but certainly enough to keep deamons and even your basic fiends away.

“Ah, it seems our mystery helper is awake,” Ignis commented as he emerged from the opposite tent where he was checking on the Crown Prince who had exhausted himself healing you and passed out after treating you while the others set up camp around him.  He had been sleeping deeply since _noon_ , barely bothering to peel off his the sweat and blood drenched Crownsguard issued clothes before passing out _on_  his sleeping bag.

Prompto and Gladio made the trek to the nearest rest stop to resupply their stock of curatives as well as other necessary supplies and should be returning soon.  Good thing, too.  Noctis had healed the worst of your wounds, but the damage caused by Ramuh had been great enough you were still left with bruises and lacerations and were still favoring your right side.  The others had done well enough with the last of the Hi-Potions and Mega Potions.  Noctis had used the last Ether on you (Gladio protested as Noctis struggled to explain why before snapping he would understand if he could use magic), but you had taken an attack that you, frankly, shouldn’t have survived even _with_ Noctis using all the magic he had left to heal you.  You were still in need of a Hi-Potion or two, and Noctis was in need of an Ether just to stay _conscious_.

Once you had been called out, you cautiously emerged and slipped your boots back on.  Your entire body still ached with exhaustion, but you couldn’t bring yourself to sit just yet.  You were weak and in a camp with people you had been ordered to kill or capture not 24 hours ago.  The advisor’s keen eye noticed the way you winced and struggled, motioning his hand for you to sit after which you took a seat in a camping char that almost dwarfed you.  You weren’t short, about average height, but Gladio and Ignis had pulled away to discuss the real chances you would pose a threat as the worried boys who demanded your rescue tended to you in the safety of the - newly purchased - tent you had woken up in.

“She’s way too small for a girl her height and age,” Gladio whispered, “She’s been fed enough to survive and that’s it.”

“She’s also dressed rather simply for an Imperial agent with her power,” Ignis added, “She holds no authority, likely she was nothing more than a weapon.”

Ignis’ observation left both him and the shield with the same understanding, the girl was a prisoner, at best.

“She didn’t seem all that concerned with her own life, if she was just trying to escape she would have made a run for it and left us for dead,” Gladio pointed out, “And she didn’t just stay behind, she took a hit from a damn _Astral_ for someone she didn’t know.”

“She was a weapon, looking for any escape even if it meant death,” Ignis concluded, “It would be best if we kept her close.”

For both their safety, and _yours_ as well.

You seemed unsure, timid even, like an abused pet relocated to a new home.  Normally Ignis would keep dinner warm until everyone had gathered, but with your sweatshirt unzipped he could see exactly what Gladio had been talking about.  Your sweatshirt hung off of you but your tank top, made of material which should have been clinging to you, fell loose on you as well.  Taking one of the extra plates he filled it with the Creamy Fowl Sauté he made for dinner and gave it to you, along with the necessary eating utensils and one of the remaining Hi-Potions.  He took no offense as you examined both dinner and the potion, he would too in your situation, before tossing back the green liquid and beginning to eat.

“This is delicious, thank you,” you complimented shyly, the tone sounding a bit strange with your Imperial accent, as you were still unsure of your situation but a bit less on edge seeing that the man had shed the jacket of his dark suit and exchanged his dark shirt for a lighter one (something about seeing the Crownsguard or the Glaives in their customized uniforms made you nervous, considering only hours ago they had been the enemy). 

Aranea had shown you kindness, as much as she reasonably could, but this was far beyond _anything_ you had experienced.  The green-eyed man was about to reply, kneeling in front of you to speak with you and attempt to (carefully) gather more information about you in private, before the sleepy prince held aside the tent flap as he kneeled at the entrance of his tent.

“I smell food, Gladio and Prom back already?” Noctis questioned after a deep yawn as he tried to rub away the sleep from his eye with the heel of his palm.  His hair was never what one would call _neat_ as it fell into his deep blue eyes and practically every other direction, but unlike his waking hours there were strands sticking upwards and it was clear he had been sleeping on his right side based on the state of his hair.  That was the least of his worries, however, as he kneeled at the entrance of his tent in nothing but a pair of black, blue, and gray stripped boxers.

“No, but I thought it prudent to feed our guest,” Ignis replied as he stood up, giving the prince a cross look, matched with the way his arms were crossed.  Noctis was always a bit lagging when he exhausted himself, both mentally and physically, and this time was worse than normal.  It took a few moments before…

 _“Shit!”_ the prince dove back into the tent and you heard him rustling around as he quickly threw on a clean set of clothes, his jeans and white t-shirt, before emerging from the tent once again.  By then Gladio and Prompto had returned, Gladio carrying a large pack of water bottles on his shoulder and a plastic bag of snacks in his other hand as Prompto carefully cradled the two paper bags of curatives in his arms. 

As they approached the camp they had heard Noctis’ exclamation and asked what it was about, so of course Ignis answered honestly.  You watched as the shield, having exchanged his unbuttoned shirt for a gray tank top, and Prompto, who was dressed in pale khaki pants (they were practically white) tucked into his boots and his own red tank, began to laugh, still giggling as the prince emerged from the tent.

“If you’re gonna bitch about my shirt at least remember to wear pants,” Gladio teased, earning a glare from the sleepy prince who had quickly ran his hand through his hair.  It was still a mess, but nothing out of the ordinary.

“Haha, speaking of that shirt you figure out how to use the buttons on it yet?” Noctis retorted, snatching two Ethers from one of the paper bags and twisting off the lid off of one to drink it straight instead of crushing the bottle like he would in battle.  He didn’t even have the magic to apply the Ether, so he was forced to drink the vile liquid, grimacing as soon as soon as he finished it.  It did the job but couldn’t someone figure out how to make it taste better?  Or at _least_ less _horrible?_   Even _vegetables_ tasted better!

“If you need someone to teach you, feel free to ask big guy,” Prompto added with a grin, carrying two water bottles as he sat in the seat to your left, before handing you one with a smile.  You took it and shyly nodded before opening it and taking a sip, realizing just how thirsty you were.  Hell, you were so focused on eating _real food_ you almost didn’t notice the half-naked prince as he made his first reappearance from his tent.

Almost.

“If you were in _half_ as good shape you’d understand,” Gladio retorted before he grabbed a plate and got himself some dinner.

“Hey, how you doing?” Prompto asked leaning on the armrest of his chair to check up on you.

“Alright…kind of confused…I wasn’t expecting to make it out of there…” You admitted before trying to stretch away the aching stiffness in your neck before finding an Ether placed in your hand by the prince who had sat to the right of your chair, leaning back against the side of as he fought off the desire to go back to sleep.

“It tastes like shit but it helps,” he offered, his eyes closed and his head leaning back against the metal bar that held up the cloth armrest of your chair until Ignis handed him dinner.

“Dude, you never give us those,” Prompto pointed out.

“Well they’re kind of useless unless you can use magic,” Noctis pointed out, “The hell did you think she was using to save your ass?”

“If I may ask,” Ignis interjected as he made his way to the seat to your right carrying his own dinner, “What is your name?”

“[Y/N]” you answered with a smile that grew when Gladio commented it was a pretty name, you _had_ given it to yourself, after all.  That smile only lasted until you twisted the cap off of the Ether and drank it, never having been given one before.

“Fucking hell that is _vile!”_


	10. FWB (Noctis Lucis Caelum)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your move to Insomnia had been fueled by your father's career, and you never once complained. You knew things wouldn't be exactly easy, moving to an entirely different country, but you went along with it. You had never expected to meet the boys who would become your best friends, especially considering one of them was the prince with whom you had a physical relationship. You had a certain fondness for each other, an indescribable connection, but you were just friends searching for a way to deal with the stresses of teenage hormones and your lives, his expectations as the future king and your expectations to live up to both your mother and father's legacies. It started out as nights alone, then kissing, then during the winter holiday break your senior year of high school, things hit their peak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is long. Like really long. Seven pages in Word and a little over 4,500 words. It was supposed to be pure smut but turned into fluff and smut with a cliffhanger that will eventually turn into a continuation. There's nothing officially planned but I know me. To top things off this fueled the idea of another story (like I don't have enough on my plate already, why can't I get all of these ideas when I actually have time for them?). I'd say be on the lookout for that but, well, I make no promises at the moment.
> 
> In the meantime, enjoy the horrible smut I have produced. It's my second attempt at writing smut to be published and I gotta say, not confident in it. Still, I'm making up for the way the almost Prompto smut turned out in the last fic (sorry, he's just so damn adorable that I just wanna hug and cuddles him.
> 
> ALSO, about the bi-lingual thing, to explain where I got the 'there is no real translation' issue. My dad is bi-lingual in English and German and runs into issues where he can think of the German phrase or word but not the English one because there literally isn't a translation, or the only translation is literal and doesn't mean what it's supposed to. We'll be having a lengthy conversation and then he'll just freeze and it's kind of funny cause his eyes get wide in this 'wtf do I say now? I literally have no words!' face.
> 
> I'm also 100% convinced each country in Final Fantasy XV has their own language, but it's like the whole Middle Earth thing where pretty much everyone speaks English even though it means all the Elves are bi-lingual so everyone can talk to each other.

# FWB

### Noctis Lucis Caelum

 

Noctis was never interested in the happenings of high school social life, and at 17 in his junior year that sentiment remained the same, despite his insistence on being _normal_.  Prompto had quickly caught on as the two grew as friends, having never really fit in, the big news of the school didn’t really bother him much either.  This, however, was news he couldn’t believe the prince wasn’t aware of.

“It’s all over the school, we’re getting a transfer from Accordo,” Prompto said as they made their way to homeroom, “Her dad’s some fashion designer and her mom used to be a model.”

“Cool,” Noctis replied, not really listening as he fought off the urge to yawn as they walked through the halls.  Something about a new girl in their homeroom.  They took their seats, his by the window and Prompto’s in the isle of rows to his right, and sat back as he twirled his pen in his hand.  They went through the normal morning routine, their homeroom teacher giving them the normal ‘behave’ lecture and introducing the new girl that apparently had everyone whispering as she stood in front of the class.  A ball of paper bounced off his nose and he shot a glare at his best friend, who was pointing actively at the girl in the front of the class.  With a roll of his eyes Noctis looked forward and froze.

_Holy hell…_

You weren’t nervous or scared, it was just a fact of life.  It was a change, a _massive_ change, but you’d find your way through it even if you didn’t make friends.  You stood in front of the class, introduced yourself, and took your seat as you were instructed.  You felt everyone watching you and couldn’t hear your black slip-on wedges as you walked across the tile floor because of everyone’s whispering.  You crossed your legs and brushed your skirt over your black tights, grateful you had worn them as you reached the cold seat of your desk by the window.  You knew you had seen the boy behind you before but you couldn’t remember and it was bugging the hell out of you.

You didn’t figure it out, but when you did you felt like an absolute moron.  It happened when you were speaking with Prompto, his camera caught your attention and you asked where the best art supply shop was so you wouldn’t run out of sketchbooks and pencils.  The two of you started talking about your hobbies, and reached a point just couldn’t think of the Lucian word for what you were thinking.  You knew exactly what you wanted to say, in Accordan, and _nothing translated over._   It was a colloquial saying in Altissia that, frankly, only locals would understand.  It didn’t even make all that much sense in Lucian, let alone to the people of Lucis.

You were wracking your brain until Noctis supplied the correct phrase, in Accordan, at which all of your attention turned to the dark-haired boy who had been quiet for most of the conversation.

The fact somebody knew even just the basics stuck out to you, let alone colloquial phrases, stuck out.

_“You speak Accordan?”_ you asked, turning in your seat to face the prince

_“Yeah, apparently if the king doesn’t speak foreign languages Lucis is doomed,”_ the dark-haired boy shrugged, and that’s when it hit you.

_“I’m such an idiot,”_ you groaned, hitting your forehead on the heel of your palm, _“You’re the prince.”_

He laughed, harder than he ever had in school, as a smile graced his lips.  He couldn’t help it.  It had only been half of a day, but you treated him like a normal person.  You didn’t shy away from him or treat him differently because you _forgot who he was_.  It was only half a day but for that half day he was just a normal teenage guy to you.

That certainly explained why you didn’t think twice about turning around to look off of his textbook until you had your own.  He brought you back into a conversation before you could shy away and the three of you continued to talk until class resumed.  He briefly noticed the look Prompto was giving him before ignoring the grinning blonde. 

After class, you saw everyone meeting up with their friends and felt a bit lost.  You were going to get through high school with or without friends.  You had stuck out like a sore thumb at your last school and hadn’t done well making friends, but you’d be lying if you claimed there wasn’t a part of you that hoped it would be different this time.  You shook yourself out of your thoughts as you gathered your things and prepared to go home only to be brought out of your thoughts by the blonde-haired boy that sat one seat behind you in the isle to your right.

“Hey, you wanna walk home with us?” he offered, to which you nodded and got up to walk home with the boys.  You quickly bonded with them, finding your place not only with them but Ignis and Gladiolus as well, though not nearly as quickly or completely as you had bonded with the prince.  The two of you had a consistent study-date every Saturday night, which turned into studying for about an hour (maybe two) before the two of you would leave his apartment for the city.  One night he walked you to the Citadel only to grab the Regalia and go for a long drive until he introduced you the best part of the city.

It was one of the more rural areas but where you expected the cliché overlook, there was a large pond that reflected the lights of the city beautifully and had a gorgeous view of the outlying homes against the bustling city all protected behind the walls and barrier powered by the magic of the Caelum line.  If you laid back on the grass you could even see the barrier as it twinkled against the dark night sky and the stars.  If it was warm enough you would lie on the grass together, in colder months you would lie on the hood of the car with your backs against the windshield or get comfortable in the back seat.  When it was too cold the two of you would hit the drive-in movie theatre and watch whatever string of bad movies was playing, and if it rained you would stay in the Regalia, with the roof up of course, and listen to the rain as you talked.

It was during one of these rainy nights the two of you found yourselves lying in the back seat of the Regalia parked by the pond.  You were on your side tucked between the back and the prince who was lying on his back with one foot on the floor of the car and one arm pillowing his head.  His other arm was underneath you, tucked between your waist and wrapped around your back so his hand was at the crook of your hip, where his thumb would absentmindedly rub back and forth at the skin where your t-shirt had ridden up, the only sign he hadn’t fallen completely asleep as his eyes were closed.  Your head rested on Noct’s chest, his heartbeat soothing you more than the rain against the windows and roof of the car.  You shifted a little, your one arm and hip falling asleep, and despite your efforts you accidently rousted the sleepy prince from his light nap.  You offered an apology as his eyes opened and you saw him watching you with sleepy blue eyes, and he leaned down to place a kiss on your forehead.  You returned the sentiment with a smile and a kiss just shy of your friend’s lips before snuggling against him and continuing to snooze in comfort.

A few weeks later, during a particularly _bad_ series of movies at the drive-in on a chilly night.  You had insisted on bringing one of the extra blankets in Noct’s closet and while the prince teased you, he still made himself comfortable with that blanked wrapped around you and him.  Neither of you were quite sure how it happened, who instigated it or even made the first move, but after an entire year of spending nearly every moment you could together neither of you were all that surprised.  Well, you were, but pleasantly, when you found out that while he was shy, uncertain, and had openly admitted having never been intimate with a girl as a result of just never being that close to girls after years of lectures about having _no illegitimate heirs_ to the throne, he was a natural as he slowly laid you down on the back seat of the Regalia with a surprising amount of confidence as he kissed you.  You reached up to tangle one hand in his mess of black hair and with the other you clutched his t-shirt with the other.  You couldn’t quite say what the rest of the movies were about, or even how any of them ended, but you had a good time.

Nothing changed in your friendship, you weren’t dating but you hadn’t distanced yourselves from each other out of awkwardness or out of a lack of surety of where you stood.   The two of you just had your private moments.  Sometimes you never even left his apartment, in fact you ended up snowed in during the winter break.  Your parents were attending a socialite party in Galdin Quay and you had gotten out of it by saying you had been invited to spend New Year’s with Noct.  They assumed you would be spending New Year’s at the palace with the prince and king when, in reality, Noctis had spun a story about how you would be alone on New Year’s and got out of attending the party.  It was a moment of _complete_ solidarity that you couldn’t even explain, something Gladio had joked was something only married couples were capable of when he found out, knowing nothing of your physical relationship.

That night turned out to be the biggest snowfall of the season, practically shutting down the entire city for two days.  Noctis had later joked he _really_ lucked out, getting to stay at his apartment and keeping Ignis from attempting to traverse through the snow by proving that you were there with him, appeasing the advisor.  You had long since proven you were willing and able to assist in making sure the prince didn’t sleep an entire day away or kill himself trying to make dinner (though you had picked up the extra chore of tricking him into eating vegetables).

The two of you stayed up late into the night.  You had long since traded your own t-shirt for one of Noct’s and borrowed a pair of his clean boxers once the heavy snowfall reached a foot after less than an hour.  (You assumed they were clean, Noctis had grabbed the t-shirt and boxers for you when he changed into his black sweats and blue t-shirt).  You had yet to clean off your light layer of makeup, your soft red-violet lipstick leaving a faint mark on your glass of water.  The two of you had been watching movies together, a series of the worst possible movies the two of you could find, and you had been sure to snatch a few of your favorite one-serving packs of ice cream from home before making your way to Noct’s apartment.  You were paying attention to the movie, (Manos Hands of Fate, it was so horrible it was amusing) and the prince was going to say something but when he turned to face you, he caught you as you were absentmindedly licking your spoon.

The prince was lazy and generally easy going, but even he had his moments of intense focus.  Before you came into his life, those moments were spent entirely on both magic and combat training.  Now here you were, sitting on his couch in his clothes as you licked your spoon without realizing just how irresistible you looked.

Without warning, the prince snatched your ice cream and spoon, placing them on the coffee table before pulling you towards him and pinning you on the couch before you could ask what he was doing.  You couldn’t help but giggle as the prince kissed you with an urgency and fervor like his life depended on it.  You had dated before you moved to the city, even had a boyfriend before, but _never_ had you been kissed like this, and to think the Crown Prince _needed_ you like this.  Your giggles turned into laughter as the prince pulled you up from lying on the couch before grabbing you by the backs of your thighs and standing up.  You wrapped your arms around his neck and played with his hair, smiling as he carried you back to the bedroom before he dropped you back onto the mess of black and deep blue that was his unmade bed (having never been made that morning) before pulling his shirt off and pinning you back down on the bed at a speed you could only describe as Mach 5.

You backed up until your head was resting against the soft pillows, Noctis following you without separating his lips from your own, where you felt your not-boyfriend slipping his hands underneath your borrowed t-shirt as they slid up your sides with a reverence that counteracted the heat of his kisses.  As a way to silently tell the already half-dressed boy you wanted this as much as he did, and possibly even out of impatience, you pushed against his chest until he was kneeling above you so you could sit up and pull the t-shirt off and tossed it over Noct’s shoulder.  The push-up bra you were wearing, a deep silky blue decorated in elegant black lace, had always been your favorite but the way Noctis sat back and just stopped and stared at you, your hair falling back as you leaned back on your elbows, only made you love that bra more.

You bit your lip and felt more and more blood rush to your cheeks as you waited for Noctis to move.  Every time he looked at you with that heated look it struck you to your core and reminded you of one single fact: _he_ wanted _you,_ of all people.  When Noctis was through admiring you, for the moment, he fell forward, causing you to fall back until your head hit the plush pillow below.  Noctis’ arms straight to catch himself as he hovered above you, slowly lowering and closing in on you, placing a long, soft kiss against your lips before asking a single question.

“You sure?”

“Oh, for _fucks_ sake!” you cursed before, in a form of impatience caused by arousal, pushing the boy over so he rolled onto his back and you were straddling his waist.  You reached behind you to unclasp your bra and slip it off.  Noctis was a sweetheart with a smart mouth, and he wasn’t about to do anything you didn’t want to.  Sometimes, though, it was wildly unnecessary.  You leaned forward until your lips met the crook of his neck, kissing softly and leaving a sinfully perfect print of your lipstick, as you trailed your hands from his shoulders, down his chest, over his abdomen and to the waist of his sweats.  If he wanted to make you impatient, you could play that game.

Gladio teased Noctis about being scrawny, and sure he might not have the massive amount of muscle, but he was _cut_ and there was no denying he was in better shape than even athletes his own age.  A much simpler way of describing him was (and still is), _hot as hell._   Frankly, that was half the reason you got such a rush that, of everyone he could get, he wanted _you_.

He watched as you left more kisses, and lip prints the very same shade of your lipstick, down his chest and abdomen before you got to the waist of his sweats, pulling them down with his boxers very, _very_ slowly as you looked back up at him through your eyelashes.  Having learned his lesson, and becoming as impatient as you had become, he nudged you away, but only far enough to give him room to lift his hips.  Looking back, and even within a few seconds after it happened, it was a bit of a comical moment as the sudden swiftness of Noctis’ actions took you a bit by surprise and as he was lying back, his vision full of nothing but his bedroom ceiling, as he pushed his sweats and boxers down.  His quickly growing erection sprung free and you let out a squeak of surprise when the tip tapped your chin.

Hearing your yelp, Noctis immediately ceased his current course of action and sat up to check if you were okay, his eyes filled with concern as you began giggling at how ridiculous it had been.  Your giggles spread to Noctis, who smiled and let out a little laugh.  You sat up and scooted a bit awkwardly to kiss the prince again as you pushed him back down, before scooting back down to pull his pants the rest of the way down.  You moved back up, running a deft hand to trail along Noctis’ pelvis before tracing feather-light touches on his impressive length and girth.

Needless to say, when he inherited that fancy chair, it surely would _not_ be compensating for anything.

The Crown Prince watched intensely as he began taking deeper and deeper breaths to keep control of his breathing.  You leaned down to place a kiss on the tip of his member before taking the head into your mouth and looking back up at him with big eyes, only to see red beginning to glow in his normally blue eyes.  You were familiar with the red that overtook his eyes when he used magic, he had called you one evening after training with his father and the crystal, and the exhaustion that rang in his voice called you over to him immediately.  It was there you saw his eyes were still a piercing red when you got there.  You’d seen the flash of red in other occasions, so quick his eyes looked violet for a moment, if he was angry, frustrated, or even determined…but _aroused?_

That was a new one.

He continued to watch, so focused on the way you were beginning to take more of him between your painted lips.  He pulled your hair back out of your face to watch and gently held it aside, and watched until you took as much as you could, teasing the length you couldn’t fit in your mouth with your deft fingers.  You sucked as you began, slowly, pulling back and looked back up as a pleasurable groan as his body tensed, forcing himself to keep control and not thrust into your mouth.  He watched the way your lips puckered a bit around the head and saw the lines of lipstick left on his length.

_Fuck_.

He was hard, throbbing in your mouth, and if you kept on the way you were he’d be finished at any moment.  He sat up to pull you up, kissing you firmly and trapping your bottom lip in his teeth as he pulled away, laying you back on the bed.  He pulled away before latching onto one of your breasts, catching you by surprise, allowing him to a slip a hand underneath the boxers you borrowed, then you felt him pinching and flicking your clit in time with the nipple he had captured with his mouth.

You were far more vocal than him, far more expressive entirely.  You cried out in pleasure as you threw your head back, clutching at the sheets below you.  You felt Noctis’ lips turn up in a smirk as he continued before playing with your other breast and slipped a single finger into your core and stroked at your walls.  The sounds you made only urged him on, and his smirk grew as you bucked into his hand.  Noctis pulled away from your breast leaving a kiss on your stomach and allowing you to catch a very _brief_ breath, whining as your building orgasm began to fade.  He continued stroking your core, growing wetter by the second it seemed, as he planted his lips against your pelvic bone and began nipping and sucking until he left a mark that would take _days_ to heal as he slipped you out of the borrowed boxers.

He pulled away, briefly, only to latch his mouth onto your clit as he slipped a second finger into your core, speeding up his strokes as he switched between sucking on your clit and flicking his tongue against it.  You felt heat building in your core faster and faster, gripping down on the sheets tighter and tighter, your groans and cries louder and louder until it all culminated into sparks flying through your limbs, your brain going dead as you arched your back, and your core tightening down so firmly it caused your entire body to jolt.  You laid back, breathing as you rode out the aftershocks of your orgasm, as Noctis retracted completely, catching your eyes with his as he licked he wiped your cum off of his chin before licking it off the back of his hand and his fingers.

You reached forward, aching to touch him, and he leaned down to kiss and nip at every weak point on your neck he knew, as his muddled mind comprehended something that could cause a problem.

“I don’t have any condoms, I didn’t think we’d be getting this far,” Noctis admitted, his voice low as puffs of his breath tickled against your neck.

“It’s fine, I’ve been on the pill since I was 16, just… _please,_ ” you pleaded with an _irresistible_ whimper, just as quietly as you nudged your nose against Noctis’ forehead to get his attention back up to your lips.  It worked, as he hovered over you, leaning on one of his elbows, as he leaned down to kiss you feverishly and used his free hand to press the tip of his hard and heavy cock against the soaking heat of your entrance before pushing inside.

He was slow, careful, and stretched you in ways that were new and almost painful at first, before that pain gave way to pleasure.  When his pelvis touched your own, he let out the groan he was biting back the entire time, long and deep in his chest, as he hung his head, his forehead against the crook of your neck as he puffed short breaths against your collarbone.

“Just…tell me when you’re ready…” He wanted nothing more than to start thrusting, but was well-aware that it wasn’t just _his_ first-time, it was yours.  He didn’t want to hurt you, that was the absolute _last_ thing he _ever_ wanted, so he would wait as long as he could until you were adjusted.  He lost track of time, moving to absentmindedly kiss along your collar until you spoke up.

“Noctis, _move_ ,” you attempted to turn the plea into a demand, but you whimpered as if _begging_ him to move.  He couldn’t deny you, he couldn’t deny _himself_ , as he began to move slowly and deliberately.  In his right mind, he would have made it all last as long as possible, drawing out the pleasure for both you and him, but you just drove him _crazy_.  He had never experienced the need to just _kiss_ and _hold_ someone, before you.  He began speeding up, harder and faster, as you placed your hands on his back you began tightening his grip to the point you were leaving scratches on his back.  The stinging pain on his back and the sounds you made as you cried out in pleasure only further spurred the arousal of the prince above you, thrusting harder and faster as he nipped and sucked at the crook of your neck.

Your cries grew more frequent and breathless as you felt the telltale signs of an orgasm, but it felt like the pressure in your core was growing far more intense than they had for your first orgasm of the night.  Bending your knees and wrapping one leg around Noct’s waist to hold him close as the pressure grew and grew, you clung to the prince to keep you grounded as you were rocked by another orgasm, so much more intense than the last.  You threw your head back in a silent cry as your orgasm hit, throwing all thought and comprehension clear from your mind as your body tensed and quivered.

Your orgasm hit you hard, and your walls clenched down on Noctis as he looked up from where he was nipping at your neck to watch you ride through your orgasm.  The flush of your cheeks, your lips parted and swollen from rough kisses, the hickey left on your neck, your hair a mess beneath you, and the way your wet heat clamped down on him was just _too much_.  With a loud groan, Noctis hung his head as his thrusts became more akin to short jerks as his own orgasm hit, his hot seed shooting into you fast and hard.

As he rode out his orgasm, the short thrusts of his hips slowing down as he spilled the last of his cum into you until he reached a full stop deep inside you and his breathing slowed.  You could feel each other’s heart beats slowing down, but just as strong, as you calmed down.  In your exhaustion, your head turned to the side, lips against Noctis’ mess of hair until he looked up to leave soft, lazy kisses against your already swollen lips.  You attempted to reciprocate, but after two orgasms in such close succession, you couldn’t even keep your eyes open, and didn’t see the tired but prideful smirk that fell on the prince’s lips.

You felt him pull away, but you couldn’t even bring yourself to react to the sudden chill at the loss of his body heat or the empty feeling that filled you at the loss of his cock inside you.  Your eyes slowly opening a bit later when he returned with a wet cloth, gently wiping between your legs.  It would be a few months before Noctis would admit the sight of his cum dripping out of you was his favorite part of sex with you _every_ time.

Tossing the cloth to the floor, Noctis collapsed next to you on the bed, pulled the covers up to cover the both of you, and fell into a deep sleep, his arm crossed over your stomach with his hand lying on your hip as his thumb rubbed your side.  As you were lulled into a deep sleep your concerns drifted away, though as the weeks passed your concerns grew more and more prevalent, even as the non-relationship continued after your senior year of high school.

Things had already been becoming complicated, and they only became more complicated as time passed.  It was only a matter of time until what started as an unspoken arrangement between friends turned into a very awkward conversation.

It probably wouldn’t have gone nearly as bad if it hadn’t been _years_ later…


	11. The Perfect Woman (Nyx Ulric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn't care what you thought, he didn't care what anyone thought.
> 
> You were perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I've seen Kingsglaive, like a long while, so sorry if he's a bit OOC. It's just an idea I couldn't get out of my head.

# The Perfect Woman

### Nyx Ulric

It was painfully obnoxious how quickly you and Nyx bonded.  Even _Libertus_ was in shock, up until it became public knowledge that you had met years ago as you lived across the hall from each other.  Your mother had only ever taught you how to cook in bulk, seeing as you had a large family before you were forced to flee to Insomnia, and you were _begging_ people to take at least _some_ of the extra food you made.  Nyx wasn’t about to turn down free food, not when it smelled so good and came from the stunning woman that lived across the hall, the same woman he’d been _searching_ for a reason to talk to since the day he moved in.  When he found out it tasted better than it looked he knew there was _no way_ he was letting you go.

It got a bit complicated when you completed your training and received your Kingsglaive uniform two weeks later, joining as the newest mage with a level of skill that surpassed every other mage when they had first joined.

To clarify, it made things _complicated_ but it didn’t mean it was _over_.

You would spend all day at work together, then you’d tell him to bring beer to your apartment in payment for food.  He failed to get beer once and didn’t come over, because he was _exhausted_ after a long two days doing nothing but fighting Nifs, even though you texted him to come over for food the second you heard he was on his way back home.  He ended up waking up to what smelled like one of his favorite meals growing up (but about a million times better), having passed out the second he collapsed on his bed after barely managing the energy to rid himself of his shoes, coat, daggers, and most of his clothes.  He was cautious, grabbing one of his daggers before making his way from his bedroom to the kitchen, only to find you cooking as you hummed along to whatever you were listening to through your earbuds.

_Oh, but by the Six, you’re perfect._

You knew the second he left his bedroom, despite your earbuds relaying the _one_ song you couldn’t help but hum along to, but you kept cooking.  You’d never made this particular dish before and you had to pay attention to what you were doing.  You’d read the reports, wanting to keep a close eye on the first real friend you had in _years_ since you made your way to the city alone, and without being a healer there was only one way you knew to help him recover.  So, having talked your way out of a day off by bribing Titus with food (you were one _hell_ of a cook), you went shopping and grabbed some pots and pans from your apartment before making your way across the hall to Nyx’s apartment.  You looked over at Nyx, holding a dagger in hand and quickly coming out of a cautiously offensive stance, and smiled before turning back to the stove.

Nyx quickly returned to his room, sheathed his dagger, and dashed back out to the kitchen at a speed so fast he really wasn’t sure he hadn’t _warped_ out there.  By then you had pulled one earbud out and turned the volume down so you could hear anything Nyx had to say, but if you stopped in the middle of the album you were going to end up with something stuck in your head for a week. 

“Hey, it’s gonna be a couple minutes,” you smiled before setting a timer and leaned back against the kitchen counter before wincing and giving a little pout as you rubbed your bottom.  That caught Nyx’s attention, hell it would catch _anyone’s_ attention.

“Dare I ask what you did this time?” Nyx teased as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

“I went out drinking with the girls and I ended up with a new tattoo, though to my defense I like it and it’s actually pretty poetic,” you answered, quickly jumping to your own defense before Nyx could complete the inevitably smartass comment that was about to pass his lips.  Of course, your defense created another comment, or really a question you’d have to answer.

“How can an _ass tattoo_ be _poetic_?” Nyx was about to regret taking a drink of water as you, being casually immodest around those you were comfortable around, turned around and pulled the waist of your cotton draw-string shorts down far enough to reveal the pink lip-print permanently tattooed on your left ass cheek.  Nyx snorted, water escaping through his nose before he practically choked as he laughed.

“Alright, _that’s_ poetic,” Nyx managed to speak as he laughed, placing his bottle on the counter and grabbing the kitchen towel to clean up, “Just don’t go showing that off too much.”

“Awe,” you teased, turning upright and turning on the balls of your feet to face the Glaive warrior with a pout that poorly hid your smirk, “Is wittle Nyx jealous?”

Nyx leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms over his bare chest as he shot you an absolutely smoldering look and replied with a simple, “Maybe.”

The answer, particularly as honest as it was, caught you off guard.  You’d be lying if you claimed Nyx didn’t catch your attention the first time you knocked on the door of his apartment and begged him to take some leftovers off of your hands.  Frankly, the only reason you were so good with magic was because you had no other life _but_ the Kingsglaive.  You had other friends,  _all_ of which were also Glaives, but Nyx was easily the closest one you had.  His bravery and heroism, as stupid and self-endangering as it was and as much as it terrified you he wouldn't come back, struck you every time and you couldn’t help but wonder how you ended up so close to a hero.  You were just a recluse, a cold woman who had lost everything and was too scared to let anyone close and this man managed to worm his way into your cold heart anyway.  With him your smiles and laughter weren’t fake, with him you weren’t pretending to be close when you were really keeping yourself distant.

With him you were just _you_ , and _you_ weren’t about to let Nyx have the last word.

You took a look at the timer before the perfect little plan clicked into your mind, stepping closer to Nyx until you were barely a hair’s breadth away and stood up on your toes so you could get your lips as close to his as possible-without touching.

“Well, maybe you should do something about that, _hero_.”

Before he could make an attempt, the timer rang and you stepped away to grab some oven mitts and pull your project out of the oven.  As Nyx watched you go back to working around the kitchen like nothing happened, everything clicked.

“You planned that,” his eyes narrowed as he made his accusation.

“Mmmaby,” you feigned innocence as you stood upright, holding the dish in your mitt-protected hands as you nudged the door to the oven up with your heel before bumping it with your hip to close it the rest of the way, “I still meant it though.”

If he meant nothing to you, you wouldn’t have bribed Titus into giving you the day off.

Nyx took you by surprise, looking at you with complete adoration and a smile before saying, “You’re perfect, you know that?”

You froze, in the middle of grabbing to of the plates you had made the man buy, before placing the plates on the counter and carefully scooping out the hot food onto them.  You felt the hot blush on your cheeks, not sure how to respond to what he said.  It was _ridiculous_ , you were as _far_ from perfect as it got without being _Hannibal Lecter_ , and he went and said that…and _meant_ it…

“When it cools down I can put it in some Tupperware and put it in the freezer for you.  That way you’ll have something to eat when I work the late shift,” you said as you focused on placing food on the plates and moving them over to the small table.  Nyx smiled as he watched you pulling out silverware from a drawer, also a purchase you insisted upon, and placed it on the table.  You risked a look back at him, seeing him still giving you that sincere look before looking away and sitting down, biting your lip and looking too fucking adorable.

Yeah.  Yeah, you were perfect.


	12. Private Moment (Flexibility Pt. 3) (Ignis Scientia)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You had your weak moments, and as the days passed and the burden of who you were and what failings you would carry in your heart it became harder and harder not to feel weak. You were strong, powerful, but you were a killer in a line of guardians. When your family carried a shield and a heart of gold, you carried a dagger and an empty soul. The one time you thought you could redeem yourself, be more than that, you already knew you were going to fail.
> 
> It got to you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a hard one. I knew the general direction I wanted it to go, but I couldn't figure out how to get it there. There were four or five completely different drafts before I deleted them and started all over again.

# Private Moment (Flexibility Pt. 3)

### Ignis Scientia

Your orders had been to travel with the prince and his Crownsguard on the long journey to Altissia.  It wasn’t your favorite of your orders, you hated the fact you would be leaving your comrades behind, but you followed your orders.  After the fall of Insomnia, and the reports regarding the Kingsglaive flowed in, you took it in stride.

On the outside.

Wrapping up your feelings and dropping them in the empty pit where your soul _should_ have been had been a long-time habit of yours.  It was something you just needed to do as a Glaive in general, let alone the only one who would was willing to snap a man’s neck as he slept, pretend to be a waitress at a restaurant and poison a woman while she was meeting with her lover, or park on top of a roof in the city and wait for hours until you could snipe your target.  It didn’t matter whether or not they were Imperial spies, seeing as the information and orders came directly from the king you trusted they were, it was cold-hearted murder.

_You made a living murdering people._

At first it had put you on edge with the other Glaives, Nyx more than most, but as time passed and you fought with them in the field as well they became your closest friends, Nyx more than most.  They were your best friends and now…now they were either traitors, deserters, or _dead_.  You stuck around in Lestallum for a few days, before taking off one night and picking up a daemon hunt hoping to fight off the emotions that had been bubbling up inside you.  The burning feeling of foreign magic granted to you by the king helped, particularly when there was nothing but embers left of the Blue Flan you had been hunting, and you made a point to continue the practice as often as you could, even if there wasn’t a hunt. 

You were experienced in fighting daemons.  It was part of the job as well as part of the reason you were ordered to join what _had_ to be the world’s worst bachelor party, and there was something… _therapeutic_ about freezing an Iron Giant until it was nothing but a giant ice sculpture you could shatter with a powerful blast of thunder that left your entire body tingling.  Part of you hoped _somebody_ would find an Imperial spy for you to murder or interrogate, you had even texted Cor to tell him to be on the lookout.  Whether or not he was the Marshall of the Crownsguard while you were a Glaive, this was a war and the country needed everyone to work together, which was exactly what you were going to do.  Of course, he wouldn’t be giving you _orders_ , just _suggestions_ , but he couldn’t help it of you happened to take those suggestions while brushing them off as quick _shopping trips_ for _feminine necessities._

You figured at least Ignis had figured out just where you went off to, if not Gladio as well, based on the fact you spent a fair amount of time at the bar when you returned.  It was a habit of yours after an assassination mission.  Of course, back in the city, that would normally result in Nyx dragging your barely conscious ass back to your apartment as you drunkenly sang Disney songs, or Gladio throwing you over his shoulder as you drunkenly recalled his most embarrassing childhood moments loudly enough for anyone to hear.

Either way, you got an earful of it the next day.

Now, living on the road, it was normally Ignis who found you and escorted you back to your hotel room long before you were even stumbling.  So, you decided to adapt.  You bought more than your fair share of alcohol at one of the local shops and went right to your room in the motel after checking in with the guys.  A few hours later, Ignis was surprised he hadn’t heard you take off for the bar and, left to check on you as you had missed dinner completely, and he found you half-way through your first bottle of wine.

He took the rest from you before you could even realize they were gone.  Admittedly that was because you were exhausted, you’d been warping all over the damn Imperial base just to find your target, then you had to warp out of there and by then you had used _all_ of your magic.  Still, you learned your lesson and you made sure to buy something stronger so you could get what you needed out of the bottle before Ignis took it from you.  You had to get your hands on a bottle of Everclear, the world’s _second_ strongest alcohol, it wasn’t your first choice but you were well and truly sloshed by the time Ignis tracked you down to your room.  You expected him to take the bottle and leave.

You woke up, carefully tucked into your bed when you were so sure you passed out in one of the uncomfortable chairs with your head on the small table in your motel room, a tall glass of water and Excedrin on the bedside table.  The shades were drawn, you _vaguely_ remembered watching the sky before you passed out, and the lights were all turned off.  During the drive, he kept the radio turned down low and the roof up, even let you sulk in the front seat with your sunglasses on to help you sleep.  It wasn’t until you made camp that he approached you about the subject.

You were in your tent, you had bought a small one for yourself instead of sharing one with the boys, and were about to wiggle into your sleeping bag when Ignis made his way into the unsecured tent.  You sat there and stared at him, sitting up in your sleeping bag as he sat at the edge and looked at you through the darkness.

“Why?”  The normally eloquent man could only think of one word that could voice his question.  Still, you know what he meant.

“I come from a family of people that _protect_ the crown, and I decided to go and start killing people for a living.  Then, the one time I’m told to protect someone instead of kill people there’s a prophecy that spells out his death anyway so we all know I’m gonna fail,” you replied with a sardonic lightness that spelled out you were finding it hard to care anymore, “I should have been in Insomnia.”

“You couldn’t have changed anything-“

“And I would have died, I know.  But it’s where I should have been, it’s how things should be,” you cut off the advisor, staring right into his eyes.  You weren’t about to go throwing yourself off a roof or putting a gun to your head, but you were honest in your belief.  You should have laid down your life with your comrades, at least the ones who were loyal to Lucis.

In an unexpected show of softness, Ignis pulled you close and held you against him.  He wasn’t about to say the words, as eloquent as he could be this was a situation he never quite found himself thinking he would be in.  Still, knowing you now he couldn’t imagine a life _without_ you, as difficult as you could be.  Perhaps it was the fact you _were_ a challenge to him that made you so dear, in a world where everything came easy to him you did not.  You kept him on his toes, dared to cross him, struck at parts of him he kept secret and hidden, just one look from you could push him in ways that had no one had ever managed before.

You curled up in his grasp, feeling so pitifully weak and powerless you couldn’t help but take comfort in the support.  It was a private moment, one you highly doubted either of you would even mention aloud, but it was desperately needed.  You just stayed there, curled up in Ignis’ lap with your head against his chest with neither of you speaking a word, until you fell asleep.


	13. Body Heat (Briefs Pt. 2) (No Real Pairing-Could Be Either Noct or Prom)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adapting to the heat was one thing, but adapting to the cold was something entirely different. You always got cold far too easily, and it was impossible for you to just thaw out let alone warm up. As the weather got colder and wetter, it became harder and harder to keep warm but you found one surefire way to get warm and stay warm.
> 
> Body heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Milady_Readsalot for giving me the idea in the first place.
> 
> As it says in the title there is no real Chocobro in mind, but it could be either Noct or Prom...or both B)

# Body Heat (Briefs Pt. 2)

### No Real Pairing, Could Be Noct Or Prom (or both)

 

It was stupid, really stupid, but you never could sleep in heavy pants.  Light pants, sure, shorts were great, no pants were _perfect._   That made things difficult when it got cold outside.  Even after buying extra blankets to pile on top of your sleeping bag you were cold. 

You’d only been able to sleep in the car, tucked between Noct and Gladio.  Within minutes of you slouching down and falling asleep, your head normally lulling onto Noct’s shoulder as Gladio was normally leaning back against the side of the Regalia as he read, Noctis would follow suite.  As the five of you walked around on hunts, you constantly found yourself attaching yourself to whichever of the guys was closest to thaw yourself out.  They all exerted more heat than you, and while you thought Gladio or Ignis would have been the warmest of the four you quickly found out that was wrong.

Prompto was already a lovable ball of energy and was _always_ warm, and Noctis was a damn _furnace_ with all that magic.

You sat up, wrapped your blankets around you as you put on your shoes right after slipping out of your sleeping bag.  Picking up your pillow and sleeping bag on top of everything, you shuffled out of your tent and into the boys’ tent.  You didn’t even bother to see if the guys were sleeping, let alone give them a warning as you threw your sleeping bag and pillow down.  You noticed there was enough room for you to place yourself between them comfortably, sharing their body heat without worrying about anyone getting kicked.  As they fell on top of both Noctis and Prompto, the two woke up just in time to watch as you kicked off your shoes and crawled back into your sleeping bag.

Four blue eyes watched in silent shock, _very_ interested in you wiggling into your sleeping bag and situating the blankets over all three of you before lying your head back on your pillow and snuggling into your sleeping bag.  You were already thawing out, a purely blissful smile on your lips as you fell asleep.

“Awe, she’s so cute.”  Prompto smiled as he tilted his head and smiled down at you, suddenly not caring they could only _barely_ tell you were wearing anything under that oversized and brightly colored t-shirt from the Moogle Chocobo festival when it was in Insomnia two years ago.  You snuggled deeper into the warmth of your sleeping bag and blankets, turning onto your side so you could barely be seen underneath the pile of blankets you bought.

Noctis, however, narrowed his eyes as his sleepy mind calculated just _what_ you were wearing before muttering loud enough for Prompto to hear, “She made me get that damn shirt just so she could steal it…”

“Well, she does all the laundry-“

“She stole it almost two years ago.”

They looked at each other before looking down at you and wondered just _what else did you steal from them?_

 

** Extended Ending **

The next morning, Ignis lightly tapped at your tent to wake you up but never heard a response.  He was concerned, you got cold fairly easily, before he heard Gladio let out an amused, “What the hell?”

Ignis’ steps quickened across the small campground so he could peer into the tent, just as taken aback as Gladio had been.

You were sleeping peacefully between Noctis and Prompto.  You were sleeping on your stomach, even underneath all those blankets and your sleeping bag Gladio would recognize your butt anywhere, and your head turned to the side.  That in itself wasn’t what caught Gladio’s attention.  What caught his attention was the fact that, and Gladio wasn’t even going to _ask_ how this happened, Noctis and Prompto were cuddled up to you.  One would make sense, you did get cold easily and didn’t give a damn if warming up meant clinging to _any_ of them, and yet you had both of them.

“Shit…they really are her flying monkeys…”


	14. Ours (Nyx Ulric)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame Taylor Swift's 'Ours.' I was literally listening to it on repeat as I wrote this.

# Ours

### Nyx Ulric

You stood in the elevator, taking you from your new apartment, you and Nyx had only moved in a little over a month ago, to the ground floor so you could make your way to work in the Citadel.  You knew the people you were living with, call it paranoia or just a habit learned from your father, a homicide detective in the city, but that only made the dead silence all the more uncomfortable.  You shifted in your uniform, wishing you had taken the stairs or just jumped off of the balcony of your apartment. 

Nyx was out on a mission, had been for the last week and wasn’t due back for another two days, otherwise he’d be shooting you looks and silent gestures until you thought you were going to explode from trying to control your giggles.  Your attempt at control normally cracked before you reached the ground floor, resulting in disapproving looks from the others in the elevator before they turned their attention away as you calmed down and apologized.  Then Nyx would go and open his mouth.

_“Yeah, [Y/N], behave yourself.”_

You’d start giggling all over again, lightly punching his arm and making him laugh as he took your hand and walked with you to work.  You’d stop to get coffee when you had time, and while neither of you paid much attention to those that surrounded you, beyond what instincts had been hammered into you as a result of your training, and couldn’t even bring yourself to care Nyx went on a few dates with one of the girls that worked there.  It was one of _many_ coffee shops the two of you frequented, not nearly as often as you frequented bars with your friends, and while you were taken off guard by the girl’s sickeningly sweet smile at first, that quickly stopped.  Only moments after you first noticed, Nyx, who was leaning back against the counter as you waited, took both your hands in his own and kissed your forehead before spinning you around to hug you back against his chest as he still held your hands in his own.

You’d be lying if you claimed you weren’t worried at first, not only were you dating a co-worker but you were dating _Nyx_.  He was one of your best friends and you didn’t want to risk that, you’d seen him flirt with girls at the bar, you knew there was a high chance he would get hurt-or _worse_ -as a result of his _insistence_ to play hero at the expense of his own well-being.  There were so many things to worry about, but he ducked down to look you in the eyes, you were never known for being tall, and gave you that sincere smile and the adoration in those gray blue eyes was so clear you just couldn’t say no.

As you left work at the end of the day, a long day of training new Glaives how to use their newly acquired magic, you made your way to dinner with your father.  You promised you would and couldn’t think of a good reason to get out of it, no matter how much you wanted one.  Your father was…judgmental.  You knew he wanted to protect you, but one tattoo and suddenly he disapproved.  You didn’t have the heart to tell him you had _three_.  Generally, he approved of Nyx, but there was no ignoring the fact that, as far as your _father’s_ opinion was concerned, the man was far from ideal.

As far as _your_ opinion of Nyx was concerned, he was your perfect match.

He wasn’t perfect himself, but neither were you.

When you finally made your way back home, sticking your key in the door to find it already unlocked, you were instantly on guard.  You slowly took the key out of the door and wrapped fire around your right hand with the expertise of a mage as you used your left hand to open the door.  You were slow and cautious, your eyes narrowed and your guard up as you took a cautious step into the apartment.  Your guard crumbled and crashed when you heard the familiar voice of your favorite person calling out to you.

“It’s just me, princess.”

You rushed into the apartment, practically throwing the door shut as you let the fire around your hand slip away and Nyx stepped out from the bathroom, about to get into the shower when you got home.  Your mood instantly brightened, and Nyx _swore_ you squeaked as you ran up to him and hugged him, wrapping your arms around his neck as you kissed him.  You both smiled into the kiss and he grabbed your thighs and picked you up with ease, carrying you into the bathroom so you could join him in his shower.

"Welcome home, hero."

_And don't you worry your pretty little mind,_

_People throw rocks at things that shine,_

_But they can't take what's ours._

_They can't take what's ours._

_The stakes are high,_

_The water's rough,_

_But this love is ours._


	15. Stay Stay Stay (Prompto Argentum)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life had made you cold and closed off, with the exception of your wicked temper, and somehow Prompto managed to break into your heart anyway. You weren't perfect, you were far from it, and you knew he could do better than you. You tried so hard, nobody had ever made you as happy as he did, and you would do anything just for him to stay with you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to say Reader's family history isn't based on my own...
> 
> Also, I've come to a random decision to pick a Taylor Swift song for each of the boys and write a one-shot. Noct's will be posted soon, Gladio's is in progress, and I finally picked a song for Iggy.

# Stay Stay Stay

### Prompto Argentum

You weren’t the easiest person to get along with, let alone _date_.  You were a logical person, to the point of being _overly_ logical, and while you were intellectually brilliant you were utterly _clueless_ when it came to emotions and human interaction.  It wasn’t your fault, though it was by choice, as your life had forced you to shut down and wield your temper and anger like a weapon in order to protect you from your own family.  They created a monster with a temper, and that’s exactly what you were, but somehow you lucked into meeting Prompto.

You didn’t just luck into meeting him at high school, you lucked into catching his attention as a friend and more.  It caught you by surprise when you found yourself not only trusting him enough, but comfortable enough around him that you let him read the novel you had been working on since you were 15.  He wasn’t the kind of bookworm you were, but you still sat nervously as you watched him reading through the latest draft you had printed out.  He loved it, and did everything he could to help you finish it.

The first thing you did when the two of you moved in together was buy groceries.  It was a normal thing that people do, there was no reason to be laughing so hard you couldn’t breathe.  Yet, you found yourself picked up and sitting in the shopping cart as Prompto pushed it around, occasionally kicking off and riding it down the aisle as you covered your eyes and waited to crash.  You never did crash, but by the time you had everything you needed you were buried in groceries and couldn’t get out, resulting in what _should_ have been an embarrassing scene when you reached the check-out counter.  You were in your twenties, you were too old to be riding around in a shopping cart.

_“You would not believe what I found in in the bakery,” Prompto grinned as you hid your face behind your hands, you knew a punny punchline was coming next, but you felt yourself growing fifty shades of red when he replied, proudly, “This little sweetie pie.”_

You couldn’t tell if you wanted to laugh or die of embarrassment, but settled for laughing as you helped put the groceries on the counter until there was enough room for you to climb out.  The _second_ the cart was empty someone took it from the two of you, and you were left carrying your groceries back to your 12-year-old two-door car.  You tried to carry your fair share of the groceries, but Prompto _insisted_ on carrying everything he could, and then some.  He didn’t drop anything, there wasn’t a single crack in a single egg…you had to admit you were impressed.

Then again, this was the same guy who not only managed to convince you to have sex against a bookshelf in the back of the Citadel library, but also kept the two of you from getting caught and didn’t knock a single book off of the bookshelf.  After you fixed yourselves up, you noticed the books didn’t even look _remotely_ out of place and considering the pleasant ache between your thighs, the hickeys you were struggling to cover, and the scratches you left down your boyfriend’s back and chest that was quite the accomplishment.  You couldn’t take any of the credit for that, you barely managed to keep quiet.

You hated yourself for looking back at everything like this.  The two of you had gotten into what had to be the biggest fight you’d ever had.  You had no idea why he did it, you didn’t _care_ why he did it, all you knew was you came home from work to see your boyfriend had invited your mother over for dinner.  Your father you could stand long enough to have one dinner every few months, your little sister lived in an apartment across the street and was _always_ visiting, but your _mother_ was the one who made you the _monster_ you became.  You kept her out of your life for a reason, because you were the only thing that stood between her and the people you loved and if you didn’t talk to her _neither would they_.  You wanted to keep her as far away from the young man you loved so dearly, and then he came and welcomed her into your home.

By the time the horrid bitch _finally_ left, you were _furious_.  The second Prompto locked the apartment door you snapped, demanding to know just _what_ in the _hell_ he was thinking?  You never told him _exactly_ what your mother was, and _exactly_ what she made you become, all the things she called you, the ways she left you to fend for yourselves as she purposely cut you and your sister off from your father, the ways she manipulated and _used_ you to get what she wanted without giving a single fuck about what it did to you or your sister, but you never thought he would _invite the devil woman into your home_. 

He was trying to help you heal, helping you face your demons even if the relationship was irreparably damaged, you hadn’t talked to your mother in years and she at least deserved to know you were _alive_.  He wanted to at least _meet_ your mother before he proposed.  He’d admit he was _hoping_ that last argument would help curb your ire but…

Well, after meeting your mother he’d say he deserved it.  She was a horrible woman, and after hearing how she greeted you the sweet blonde hated her too.  He was begging you to just listen to him, long enough for him to apologize, but you just couldn’t do it.  Angry tears were streaming from your eyes as every painful experience of your childhood came flying back to your mind, you were so angry you threw…something at him.  You hadn’t the faintest idea _what_ you threw, but he barely ducked in time and based on the resulting crash it was a good thing he did.  You stormed into the bedroom, slamming the door shut, and stayed there.

You didn’t sleep all night, the second you turned to face Prompto’s side of the bed, empty and cold, the clenching in your heart made you nauseous.  You scooched over to his side of the bed, tears stinging at your eyes as a scent you could only describe as _sunshine_ , the same scent that surrounded your boyfriend and made you smile, invaded your senses.  What was going to happen?  Did he leave the apartment?  Was he going to leave _you_?  You struggled to hold back the tears at the thought and decided, you needed to talk to him.  You needed to apologize, to explain and apologize for overreacting a few more times.  In the morning, you heard clattering and a yelp followed by some cursing and you felt relieved that Prompto had stayed.

You still needed to talk.

You got up and made your way out to the kitchen, based on the state of the couch, and the spare blankets Prompto had grabbed were still neatly folded on the coffee table, along with the state of your boyfriend it was clear he had slept just as much as you did.  You saw him fussing with the waffle iron, you were the only one who could get the thing to work without getting waffle batter all over the damn place but it _did_ make perfect waffles and you _love_ waffles.  You made your way over to him so you could help, Prompto thanking you as you did.

“We should talk…about the fight…I should explain…” you couldn’t meet Prompto’s gaze, but wanted to make sure he knew you weren’t going to leave, unless he wanted you to.

“Alright, just give me a second, I’ll be right back,” Prompto promised, kissing your head before going down the hall and into the bedroom.  You looked up from fiddling with the waffle iron, wondering just what in the hell Prompto was doing, until he came out wearing your black kickboxing headgear. 

“Alright, let’s talk,” Prompto said, his face serious but he had that familiar sparkle in his eyes, the one that he always had when he was trying to make you laugh.  The padded helmet didn’t fit right, mostly because it wasn’t secured correctly, but that only made you laugh harder.  Prompto grinned proudly, he always did when he made you laugh or smile.

He took off the helmet, placing it on the counter before he wrapped his arms around you and held you close as your hands trailed along Prompto’s abdomen before tightly clutching the sides of his shirt, kissing your head again as you nuzzled into Prompto’s chest and hummed in content.  He leaned down enough to nuzzle into your bedhead, just as content as you were to stay like that.

“I’m sorry I snapped like that, you don’t deserve that.”

“It’s okay, I’m sorry too.  I should have listened.”

You stayed like that until the waffle iron beeped, slowly pulling away to grab a fork and carefully pull the waffles off of the iron and onto a plate.  Prompto watched with interest, every time he tried to make waffles he made a giant mess of the batter and the waffles ended up in pieces as he struggled to get them off the iron.  He did everything you did, and you never cared if the waffles were in pieces-they could be burnt to a crisp for all you cared it was the gesture itself that brought a smile to your face.

“So…I said something last night I probably shouldn’t have…” Prompto bit his lip and looked down, hand fiddling with something in his pocket.

“Prom it’s okay.  I said a _lot_ of things-“

“No, it’s not…it’s not about that.  It’s…it’s about the thing I said about wanting to meet your mom before I proposed…”

Your movement slowed as you carefully put the last of the waffles on the plate, you didn’t remember _that_ part, but then again there were bigger things on your mind.  Why did he think he shouldn’t have said that?  Was he talking about a hypothetical future?  Did he not mean it?  Oh gods…did he change his mind after last night?

“I-I don’t remember that,” you admitted, unplugging the waffle iron and carrying the plate of waffles over to the small kitchen table, placing the waffles among a variety of juice, fruit, and syrup was already waiting among two plates, glasses, coffee cups, and silverware already set out.  Coffee already filled the coffee pot in your old Mr. Coffee, the hotplate at the bottom of the coffee maker keeping the dark liquid warm.  That was odd, neither of you were much for setting the table.  The last time anyone set the table was during that winter storm when the two of you were snowed in, Prom had been planning on surprising you by taking you out for a nice dinner but had to cancel the reservation-

It clicked in your head as you turned around and saw your boyfriend on one knee, looking up at you with those blue eyes, his jaw clenching as he controlled the shaking in his hands as they held a small velvet box.  He had practiced what he wanted to say over, and over, and _over_ again.  He had a whole damn speech, memorized and everything, he made your favorite breakfast, the ring had been burning a hole in his pocket for the last three months as he tried to figure out how to ask you.  He had everything planned, put together, and ready to go.  Now that the moment of truth had come he didn’t regret it, but his heart was pounding so hard in his head he couldn’t remember a damn thing and could only manage to go _way_ off script.

“Stay with me?  Forever?”

You didn’t _say_ yes, not immediately, but the way you practically tackled him to the kitchen floor as you kissed him over and over was enough of an answer until you pulled away with a wide grin and nodded.  Placing your forehead against Prompto’s as he grinned as well, those blue eyes you loved looking up at you as he held you.

“Yes, gods yes.”

Stay, and I'll be loving you for quite some time  
No one else is going to love me, when I get mad, mad mad  
So I think that it's best if we both stay, stay, stay, stay, stay, stay


	16. Mine (Noctis Lucis Caelum)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn't easy, from observing your father you could only assume love never lasted and wasn't worth the trouble, quickly turning you into the cold-hearted know-it-all of nobility your age. By complete accident, Noctis caught you as you read to the children at the library and saw a side of you that caught his interest.
> 
> He turned you into a rebel, and was easily the best thing that could have happened to you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the story talks about MC’s favorite childhood book being turned into the movie but I wanted to clarify, my favorite childhood book of all time hasn’t been turned into a movie. I was just teased about a series that never happened for me. My favorite book is the third of a series that sparked my love for literature, to the point that it sparked my interest in writing. The story also mentions a personal connection to the main character, which I did have. I love Harry Potter, but Artemis Fowl will always, always, always be my favorite. That being said…
> 
> I want my Artemis Fowl movie series! (And I want it done right!)

# Mine

### Noctis Lucis Caelum

You always had your guard up, even if you were laughing and smiling with your friends it was up.  You were careful about who you dated, to the point that you really _didn’t_ date, and yet you found yourself saying yes when the prince asked you.  Maybe it was simply because it took you by surprise, you hadn’t been expecting it.  Last you knew you were the nobility’s ‘insufferable know-it-all,’ which you would fully admit to being, and while the other girls your age were giggling idiots you didn’t think for a second you would actually catch his interest.

You later found out he caught you working at one of the libraries around the city, he was checking out a book for school and caught you reading to the kids during the bi-weekly story-time.  You were so animated about it, and you looked so _happy_ as you focused entirely on reading to the children, and even the prince found himself stopping to observe your reading of an old classic: _The Velveteen Rabbit._   He’d see you by yourself, most of the time, and you were always reading.  You read _everything_ , from crap books he swore he saw at the grocery store check-out to political non-fiction, it didn’t matter.  Every time you were just as invested, focused entirely on the book and even making little notes in the margins when you weren’t biting the tip of the pen you were holding.

He noticed you reading an old copy of what looked like a novel for pre-teens, with old notes in the margins and scars in the spine and dog-eared pages, and that was when he decided.  He’d been admiring you, the real you when the guard fell, long enough and it was long-past time he asked you out.  So, he did.

The first date was a bit cliché, just dinner and a movie, until you found out what the movie was.  It was the movie adaptation of the first book of your absolute favorite book series, from when you were a child and into your teens and adulthood.  You read the series at _least_ a dozen times, impressive considering there were eight of them and the series didn’t start until you were eight (and didn’t end until you were out of high school).  You couldn’t help it, you identified with the main character too much _not_ to, though you would admit he had happier endings than you did.  You had been trying to find time to see the movie, it came out the very same night as the summer gathering and made the mature decision to represent your family.

You didn’t know this, but the movie was good enough to get Noctis to read the series himself.  He would have been a complete idiot not to notice the similarities between you and the main character in the movie, but in the books, they were so much more obvious.  The only way they could be _less_ obvious was if he was actually, physically, hit by them.  By the time you found out he started reading the series, he was on the sixth book, and you were right.  The movies were good, but the books were… _woah…_

Noctis wasn’t gonna become the bookworm you were, _ever_ , but he understood why you read so much.

Your second date was simple enough, he’d be an idiot if he didn’t take you to the Moogle-Chocobo Festival while it was in Insomnia.  You had a fun time, and while Carbuncle seemed absolutely _smitten_ with you during his _wildly_ unexpected visit, Noctis wasn’t about to explain the importance the fluffball had in his life, but even without the fuzzball’s approval the prince found himself falling deeper for you as you laughed.  _Astrals_ your smile was precious, each one reached your eyes and was full of such pure joy.   He couldn’t stop himself, he was inviting you to his secret hideout the next weekend.

You agreed, seeing as the prince did everything he knew would make you smile, and caught the look in his eyes as you did _truly_ smile, you couldn’t help _but_ to agree.  It was against your better judgement, but you did it anyway.  He brought you to one of the few places that were still considered ‘safe’ outside of the walls of Insomnia, after bringing you to the Citadel so he could grab the Regalia and drive you there in the car you _instantly_ fell in love with.  He stopped at a parkway on the side of the road, turning the car off before attempting to get out and around the car to open the door for you, but he did get there in time to give you his hand to help you up.  He let go just briefly enough to open the trunk and grab a fishing rod and tacklebox before using his free hand to grab your own hand, and he never let go of your hand as he led you through the peaceful meadow to the lake.  He told you he would fish there when he had the chance, and went through the trouble of teaching you how to fish.

The two of you stayed there all day, as long as you could, and you still remembered the way he wrapped his arms around you as he taught you how to fish.  One of his arms remained draped over your shoulders at all time, and while your own paranoia made you think that was because he was trying to be able to stay close enough to correct your mistakes at first, you soon found out it was simply because Noctis enjoyed being close to you after he kissed you on the head and rested his chin on top of your head.  You didn’t catch that many fish yourself, but he was _determined_ to make sure everyone knew the two of you were an item at the next seasonal gathering.  Of course, he was, you had a drawer of clothes at his apartment-along with a toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.

You let your walls crack open, just enough to let Noctis through to see why you were so guarded.  To see that you escaped to Insomnia to escape being the eldest, and only _legitimate_ heir, to your father’s place on the Council as he had slept his way around Lestallum and broke your mother’s heart.  You knew your place in Lucis, but that didn’t make you trust, or even _like,_ your father any more.  Your father was a careless man, who had gone through two wives and three fiancés, and just by that he taught you to be cautious and careful.  After learning that, you couldn’t even _imagine_ the mixture of joyous _pride_ Noctis felt as he made sure _everyone_ knew you were an item at the next seasonal gathering for the nobility.

It should be noted you only told him what colors to wear to the winter gathering, and the second he saw you in your gown he was torn between showing you off and making sure anyone else saw you.  When you got there, you whispered to him you had _conveniently_ forgotten to wear underwear.  He found himself wishing he pushed you back into your apartment.

It was looking good, too good, for too long.  Even through the fights the two of you managed to talk your way through, until you reached one that you just _couldn’t_ talk through.  You didn’t even remember what it was about, all you remembered was walking out into the raining streets of Insomnia and had every intention of going back to your apartment and never talking again.  Why would you talk again?  From what you were taught of love, you _wouldn’t_ talk unless it had to do with work.  You never expected Noctis to chase after you, it was late enough at night to be considered _morning_.  Then you felt a hand grab your own and Noctis was suddenly in front of you, holding both of your hands in your own, and asking if you remembered the day he took you fishing.

“I don’t see what-“ you were desperate to go back to your apartment, you were barely holding back the tears as it was-let alone the _sobs_. 

“Do you remember the first time I took you fishing?” Noctis asked, all of his attention focused on you despite the fact he was in nothing but a pair of old sweats and a white t-shirt.  You were about to nag him for running out in the pouring rain without shoes and pull him back inside for his own well-being before realizing, as far as you knew, that wasn’t your responsibility.  You weren’t his girlfriend, he was just going to leave you after this…right?

“Noctis, what does this-“

“Just tell me, do you remember?”

“Of course, I do,” you snapped, like it should have been obvious.  Of course, you would remember that.  He opened up to you that day, and while that single action wasn’t nearly as special to him as it was to you it didn’t make it any less special.  You would always remember that day.

“I started falling for you when I caught you reading for the kids in the library, but the _second_ I took you out fishing for the first time I knew…I _knew_ I would never love someone like I love you.  You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he spoke as if he was pleading, and you quickly understood when he added, “We’ll talk about this just…please don’t leave me.”

You stood there, stunned that Noctis chased after you in the first place, let alone didn’t even bother putting on shoes to chase after you in the pouring rain.  You expected him to drop off your things at your apartment, mail them to you, never talk to you again.  You expected a goodbye, from the day your mother up and left when you were young your life had been nothing but a series of heartbreaking goodbyes.  Then Noct chased after you and begged you to stay, bringing the tears back to your eyes, worrying your boyfriend before you wrapped your arms around his waist and buried your face into his chest.

You didn’t know if Noctis remembered that night, but you did.  You would always remember that night, it was the night everything changed for you.  Noctis made a point of telling you that you were the best thing to happen to him, and as you watched him napping on the couch in his office with your two-year-old son laying on top of his father and sound asleep.  You quietly made your way into the office, brushing a hand through your son’s dark locks before gently picking him up to tuck him into bed and get the king back to work.  Just like always, when you found your boys napping together, Noctis jumped and the hand resting on your son’s back stiffened and protectively held his son there.  Once he saw you, smiling down at him, he let you pick up the two-year-old and hold him gently against you, the boy never woke up and even snuggled against you as best as he could.

“You know I’ve been thinking,” Noctis spoke quietly as he sat up, stretching in an attempt to wake up as you were inevitably going to put him back to work and get Ignis to _make sure_ the King did as the Queen commanded.

There’s a reason the Queen is the most powerful piece on the chess board.

“You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?” you teased, your son snuggling closer when he heard your voice and you carefully kissed his head.

“Not this time,” Noctis chuckled as he stood up, and the second he gently pressed his lips against yours you knew he was trying to get you to agree to something, “But one or two more of these little munchkins would be perfect, don’t you think?”

You hummed as if you were mulling over the idea, but the smile you failed to hide told Noctis you were already in agreement.  You made your way out of the office with a single statement, “Finish up your work for today, and we can… _talk_.”

Mostly talk about that positive pregnancy test sitting on your bathroom counter.

_Do you remember, we were sittin' there, by the water?_  
_You put your arm around me, for the first time_  
_You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter_  
_You are the best thing, that's ever been mine_

_Do you remember all the city lights on the water?_  
_You saw me start to believe, for the first time_  
_You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter_  
_You are the best thing, that's ever been mine_


	17. You Belong With Me (Gladiolus Amicitia)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being friends with Gladio could be tough, not because of him but specifically the cavalcade of girls he flirted with. You learned to deal with that, shoving your feelings for your best friend as you believed his friendship was worth more than taking the risk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best one, I'm well aware of that, but I wanted to get this up and posted between work and school.
> 
> I was up until three am getting homework done...I've got work today too...I need a vacation...
> 
> I was also simultaneously listening to 'You Belong With Me' and watching The Ranch on Netflix while writing this...and really wanted to strangle Gladio when he came back to the team with that giant scar on his chest. Sure, we find out why in Episode Gladiolus, but that doesn't mean I'm less pissed at him about it. I hate when the boys get hurt and he was all 'oh this? Yeah, it's nothin, no worries.' It's not nothing Gladio! It could have killed you you big lug!

# You Belong With Me

### Gladiolus Amicitia

Being Gladio’s best friend wasn’t what you would describe as _easy_.  When you were younger it was difficult just because he was always running around getting hurt, and while you were from a family which produced the best hunters and healers Lucis had ever seen that didn’t mean you had begun your training at _five._   As you got older you remained close, finding time for each other despite busy schedules, walking around the city, just sitting in each other’s company and reading with the radio on, he’d even talked you into going camping a few times and you actually had fun.  You buried your feelings for him, you had to as Gladio was a charming and handsome man.  Eventually you just…moved on.

You’d known each other so long he was welcomed into your family years ago.  Not _necessarily_ a good thing considering the… _unique_ kind of redneck your father and older brothers were.  You and your mom were sane, comparatively, but you distinctly remember bailing out your brothers for stupid things such as ‘truck sledding,’ streaking through the McDonald’s parking lot yelling ‘I’m lovin’ it,’ and _trying to tunnel their way under the wall._   Of course, while your mother was one of the comparatively sane ones, you weren’t quite sure what was going on with your parents.  They’d been separated since you were ten, still married, and still hooking up regularly.

You tried asking once, your dad just grunted and your mom went on a two-hour tangent that included the phrase ‘sexual soulmates,’ and you found yourself at Gladio’s apartment pounding on the door until he let you in.  You made a beeline to the kitchen, grabbed a beer out of the fridge and chugged the entire thing right in front of the fridge before grabbing another _two_ for yourself.

If you had access to Everclear you’d drink the entire bottle, but after the last time you and Gladio drank Everclear you agreed to _never again_ touch the stuff.

He wasn’t _pleased_ with your decision to become a field medic, instead of working in a hospital or even just remaining stationed in the Citadel to treat the Crownsguard or Kingsglaive when they were injured.  You were capable of fighting for yourself, you’d been shooting archery and guns since you were old enough to hold a weapon and your overprotective father would be _damned_ if you didn’t know how to take out a damn _army_ by yourself.  You were a good healer, the best, and had studied your ass off to become one of the youngest healers in history.  You’d be a great asset in the field, you were a _terrifying_ little thing, but he did _not_ like you taking the _risk_ you could get hurt.

He felt a _bit_ better about it when you joined the party taking Noctis to Altissia, but as things became more and more dangerous Gladio liked it less and less.  By the time he realized just how much you meant to him, you had already moved on.  Watching you walk around in your Crownsguard uniform, tight black jeans fit to your form and tucked into black knee-high boots, a gray V-neck t-shirt that fit your frame perfectly, and a black leather jacket.  Hell, just the way you strutted around in those heels, flipping your hair as you flirted with a Hunter at the bar and waved to the guys as you _left_ with the stranger.

Even though they were _all_ aware of the unique friendship you and the Shield had, that didn’t make it any less _blatantly_ obvious you _should_ be together.  You’d always cuddle against Gladio when you fell asleep in the car, at camp you’d sit close enough to prop your feet up on his lap or even just drape your legs across his.  When Gladio left you grabbed a big bag of curatives and _made_ him take them along, forcing him to stand there holding it as you quizzed him on first-aid before letting him go.  When he came back with a scar across his chest…well most girls would start hugging, crying, kissing, things like that.  You just spotted the scar, your lips in a thin and firm line as you stared at it unblinkingly before your gaze went _right_ to Gladio’s amber eyes as you stared down the giant of a man.

“I can explain-“ Gladio attempted to defend himself, you were going to be angry about the wound for a _while_ , but you turned on a dime and quickly made your way through Lestallum and to the Leville.  The next day you kicked him in the shin and didn’t talk to him until dinner when the five of you made camp.

“We went into Imperial territory, explored a daemon infested temple that only opened _at night_ and had a _roof_ made of _water_ , fought a giant bird-dragon thing, and we’re all fine,” you snapped, “You’re left unsupervised and you almost get yourself _killed._   You are _officially_ not allowed to go anywhere without supervision.”

Gladio wasn’t about to argue, even _Ignis_ didn’t argue with you when you put your foot down.  You might be the field medic, and while you didn’t specialize in combat like they did you were a _trained_ healer who _knew_ how to make people _hurt_.  Of course, it was that very same trait that resulted in _you_ parting from the group for a month.  It was a necessary, but dark, part of your job.  As part of your training to be a healer, you had to study every kind of medicine, including psychology and how to _make_ people tell you what you wanted to know.  It was the first Imperial General they had managed to capture and keep in custody without him _killing_ himself, Cor wasn’t about to let anything go wrong.

So, he called you.

Gladio wanted to go with you, but he had a duty and he already left Noctis’ side once.  Gladio couldn’t do it again, not as things became so much more dangerous.  Still, he’d seen what this part of your job did to you for _days_ at least, and while you smiled upon your return your smile never reached your eyes.  He stayed by your side, but your eyes were still downcast, you rolled Ether vials in your hand as you stared down at the green liquid that was not lethal but certainly _painful_ when applied to the wrong places in the wrong people.

It was a rare moment of privacy, as Prompto refilled the gas tank, Ignis restocked on supplies, and Noctis looked through hunts.  Gladio pulled you aside, making sure they weren’t spying on the two of you, before he pulled you in for a tight hug and kissed your forehead before resting his chin on top of your head.

“I love you.”

The confession took you by surprise, separating enough to look up at him with wide eyes.  It was so simply _matter of fact_ , like he was just talking about the damn weather, but with the look in his eyes there was no way he didn’t say what you thought he just said.  The pieces clicked into place and you didn’t know what to say…

“I know it would have meant more five years ago, but to be fair I was an idiot and had never seen you stare down a Behemoth and snipe him in the eye.  You are a beautiful and _terrifying_ woman.”

You scoffed and chuckled a bit, your lips turning upwards in a sweet smile as you reached up to kiss just shy of Gladio’s lips, “We are on our way to Galdin Quay, I wouldn’t say no to dinner and some drinks.  I may or may not have gone shopping and purchased a new bikini.”

You smirked coyly as you took Gladio’s hand and draped his arm over your shoulders, your hands intertwined as you walked back to the Regalia and mused, “It’s a halter top so there’s a high chance it’ll fall down but my boobs looked _fantastic_ when I tried it on so I figure it’s worth it.”

You laughed as Gladio let out a long and exasperated groan as he imagined you in the bikini in question.  He opened the car door for you and when he slid in after you, you turned him towards you with a hand on his cheek and kissed him, ignoring the snap of Prompto’s camera as Gladio’s hand tangled into your hair.  He pulled you into his lap, arm snugly wrapped around your waist as he kept your there as you leaned your head on his shoulder.

“I love you too, tough guy.  But I swear if you get any more scars from life-threatening wounds I’ll kill you myself.”

Gladio threw his head back and laughed before pulling you in for another kiss, he was never gonna get tired of kissing you, “Won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Better not.”


	18. Enchanted (Ignis Stupeo Scientia)

# Enchanted

### Ignis Stupeo Scientia

You hated these gatherings, you always had.  Stuffy nobles pretending to care how the others are doing, asking how their fellow nobles have been, as if they actually care, making plans to further their place in the nobility, fake smiles, and dead laughter.  Every time you were asked how you were doing, you were sorely tempted to reply, _‘my father sold himself out to the Imperials as a spy, tried to kill my mother so she killed him then killed herself, and now my 16-year-old brother is struggling to run the family because I’m busy being in the Crownsguard.  You know, the usual.’_

Walking around the gathering held in the palace, your white heels silent against the polished tile floor and your simple white evening gown moved with you as the slit up to your lower thigh allowed you free movement, the halter of your dress leaving your shoulders and back bare but your halter covered up to your collarbone where it gently lay around the base of your neck.  You kept your back straight and your head high, your hair trailing down your back as you carefully watched the crowd, remaining at the sidelines.  That was where you saw him, your eyes meeting in an instant and the two of you vaguely remembered the other.  You had seen him around the Citadel, and he had seen you training, but the two of you still stepped closer and closer until you met eye-to-eye, or as close as it could get.  He was a fair bit taller than you.

As you began speaking with the man, Ignis Scientia the Royal Advisor to the prince, your painted lips turned up into a sly smirk as you countered Ignis’ quick wit.  You thoroughly enjoyed speaking with him, and you believed he enjoyed speaking with you as well.  As you spoke, he gently took your wineglass from your hands and guiding you to the center of the large room where everyone was dancing.  You loved the feel of the soft leather of his gloves, and through them you could feel the warmth of his hands as he gingerly, but firmly, guided you through the dance.

He was a perfectly charming gentleman, but you could see through his green eyes.  There was something darker, not evil or frightening, just a darker side that intrigued you before you had actually seen it.  You couldn’t help but attempt to tease him as you left the dancefloor to return to the perimeter of the gathering, you gingerly took another glass of white wine and sat in a nearby chair, crossing your legs to make _sure_ your gown was positioned just perfectly for the slit to fall open and reveal your leg.  You smirked as you caught him looking, green eyes flashing darker for a fraction of a second, before he looked up just as you took a sip of wine, admiring your painted lips as they parted.

He returned in kind, but not nearly as _painfully_ obvious as you were.  His hand would brush against the small of your back, left bare by the low back of your dress, or ever so slightly brush his hand against your arm.  It was all utterly unnecessary, you were already smitten with those looks he would shoot you.  You hoped things would progress further, but as the night came to a close it never did.  You thanked Ignis as he retrieved your white coat and helped you put it on, letting you leave after a polite and lingering goodbye.

The drive to your apartment was spent wondering, desperately hoping there was nobody else in Ignis’ life.  It had been a long time since you connected with anyone, let alone connected so _completely_.  Astrals but you hoped there was no one else, that would make all of the attempts to meet Ignis again so much more embarrassing.  Just _seconds_ ago, you were on cloud nine, butterflies fluttering in your stomach as you imagined the next time you would meet, then doubt came crashing down.  Had you told him you were glad to meet him?  You were _enchanted_ to do so, in all honesty, but people don’t just go and _say_ that.

Well, he could and it wouldn’t sound stupid or weird, but the second you would try to say something like that you’d sound like a moron who watches _way_ too many Disney movies.  That’s still true, but you didn’t want anyone _knowing_ that.

All of these thoughts were still buzzing through your head, fear and insecurity taking over your mind as you opened the door to your apartment and reached into the pocket of your coat to pull out your wallet and phone.  That was when you felt it, a simple slip of paper.

Pulling it out you unfolded it to read it, and on it you found a neat script you were jealous of, but more importantly was the name and number of the man that had made your night not just bearable but _wonderful._   It was two in the morning, no matter how giddy you were you couldn’t call him this late.

You _did_ call him the _second_ you had the chance the next day.

_This night is sparkling, don't you let it go_   
_I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home_   
_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew_   
_This night is flawless, don't you let it go_   
_I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone_   
_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew_   
_I was enchanted to meet you_


	19. Catching Feelings (FWB Pt. 2) (Noctis Lucis Caelum)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I do these things? It got all angsty at the end when it was supposed to be all happy and I just...why?

# Catching Feelings (FWB Pt. 2)

### Noctis Lucis Caelum

Ruling a country was stressful enough, ruling a country in a post-apocalyptic world the king wasn’t meant to survive in the first place was worse.  It was a welcome surprise, waking up as the sun shined through the tall windows of the throne room, but still a surprise.  He distinctly remembered waking up to the four of you mourning in the sunlight, his eyes instantly gravitated to where you stood, your face buried in Ignis’ chest as you clung to him and cried.  Wincing as he sat upright, he couldn’t help himself.

_“What’d I miss?”_

He paid for that…sure he expected Gladio calling him names, Prompto snapping at him that it wasn’t funny, and Ignis giving him a look that made the king wish he actually was dead.  He expected you to slap him or hit him over the head, the kick to the _shin_ he didn’t expect, and despite the fact that it hurt like a _bitch_ he brushed it off.  It wasn’t the fact that he was king that he hoped would stop you, him being a prince had never stopped you, but he thought you’d wait until he had healed up a bit.

_“We thought you were dead jackass!  This isn’t a time for jokes!”_

You glared angrily through the tears, your lips scrunched in an adorable angry pout as you turned on the balls of your feet and stormed off, the heels of your black knee-high boots clicking against the stone floor.  You returned the next day, helping him as he continued to heal and now you played secretary for him as he got the country up and running again.  No, it was more than that.  You remembered every detail of every person he had to work with, every territory he had to rebuild, every member of the nobility that remained, every official that was going to be returning to the city.  You kept them all straight for him, and didn’t even think about it.

Of course, you returned to his side, you always did.  Even as you stayed in Altissia, helping your homeland recover from Leviathan’s rampage, you returned to his side when you heard he woke up.  He remembered you sitting at the head of his hotel bed, Gladio was out shopping for supplies and Ignis was _insistent_ on doing everything himself, and Noctis fondly remembered the way you ran your hand through his hair as he rested his head on your lap, his arms tightly wrapped around your waist.  He needed you more than ever, pulling you aside for kisses or sneaking into your hotel room for a night together before he snuck back into the hotel room he was sharing with the guys.  He was fond of you, dearly so, and he always would be.

In what he thought would be his last moments, his thoughts turned to you, and as he survived certain death all his attention was focused on you.  You sat on one of the plush leather couches, both turned to face each other with an ornate coffee table in the middle, as you did your own work, rifling through letters you could reply to yourself or just toss out, setting aside a disturbing pile of marriage proposals Noctis looked at like they were a salad.  You made him deal with them, even set aside the ones that could be a promising idea for the country or you had met and thought he might like.

As you got older, as the years passed and you reached 30, you…accepted your lot in life.  You had always known you and Noctis could never be a real thing, never more than friends with a casual, entirely physical, fling that would have to end and be kept secret.  You even knew your heart was going to be broken as you buried him when the sun rose.  Even now, as you sat in the king’s office as everyone carried out their own parts in running the country and enjoyed the sunlight _together_ , you expected it all had to come to an end.

Over the last ten years, you had become as close to a leader as one could during the darkness.  People flagged you down and begged for you to help, you eventually became responsible for organizing the Hunters and the Crownsguard, efforts to relocate refugees from smaller towns and villages to Lestallum, Old Lestallum, Hammerhead, or anywhere else they could live safely.  Supply chains had been your biggest struggle, considering your only form of transportation, your purple Chocobo, went and had babies ~~the dumb bitch~~.  You adapted, figuring Noctis wasn’t likely to use his black Chocobo any time soon and it was the best solution as the bird was already fairly familiar with you.  Then you saw your Chocobo’s hatchlings were _all_ black and you couldn’t tell which one you were angrier at.  Yours, ~~the whore~~ , or his, ~~the horney bastard that knocked up your bird~~.

All things considered, however, you greatly underestimated the importance you held to Lucis.  You weren’t ‘the prince’s immigrant friend’ anymore.  You were ‘the woman that kept Lucis going in the darkness,’ you just didn’t know it, even though Noctis did.  You would be a stabilizing presence, seeing you at the king’s side would give the people a reassurance that Lucis _would_ pull through.

That hadn’t been something Noctis thought of, that was something Ignis pointed out as they went through the proposals while you were in Lestallum, reorganizing the supply chains.  Noctis had been turning them all down, and despite how the two of you tried Ignis had long figured out the complexity of your relationship.  The advisor even noticed Noctis falling for you long before the royal ever did.

Now Noctis sat at his desk, sitting back as he admired you working.  You stopped wearing your Kingsglaive and Crownsguard uniforms every day, though to be fair your Crownsguard uniform _was_ made with a 21-year-old version of you in mind, but now you were wearing a white blouse that comfortably fit your form and just _faintly_ revealed the lace pattern on your white bra, your black slacks fit your form snugly enough you couldn’t tuck your shirt into them. 

In all honesty, he preferred when you wore a skirt or dress simply because you wore those nylons which he _knew_ were thigh-highs, probably decorated with lace at the top.  You bought a pair of them on a whim when you dragged him to the mall and after finding them more comfortable than tights you ended up with a wide enough variety to wear them every day of the _month_.  Still, he wasn’t about to complain, not with the way you strutted around in those black heels and those pants hugged your hips and butt so perfectly.

He admired you as you worked, then you tapped that pen against your bottom lip-

“Come here,” Noctis spoke up, catching your attention and causing you to look up at him, looking like a deer in the headlights with that damn pen between your teeth.  You pulled it away when you recognized the look in his eyes, dark blue turning darker as red edged into his iris’.  You sighed and put the pen down on the table, looking down at your work as you did before turning to look at Noctis and speak seriously.

“You know we shouldn’t, we should have stopped when you got engaged and you know it.  You’re king now, time to stop screwing around and find a queen,” you spoke carefully, tactfully and professionally.  You kept your distance since Noctis got back, as much as you could when you thought he would die, and you kept that rule when he woke up from certain death.  You didn’t know how this conversation would go, but you didn’t expect Noctis to stand up and make his way over to you.  You scooched back on the couch as Noctis kneeled on it, a grave miscalculation as you found yourself pinned back against it.

Placing your hands on his chest, you never made a move to push him away and instead chose to watch in stunned silence as the king closed in on you and brushed his lips against yours, just enough for a ghost of a kiss, bringing your attention to how much you _missed_ his touch.  You leaned up just enough to press your soft lips against his in an actual kiss, and found yourself pushed back as the kiss became firmer.

You didn’t separate as Noctis used one hand to unbutton your white blouse, his warm and calloused hand attaching itself to the curve of your waist before sliding up so his fingers gently brushed along the hem of your bra.  His touch was light, just ghosting over your skin, but it still made you gasp and arch your back, reminding you that while he had been _clueless_ when this part of your relationship started, he was a _fast_ learner when he wanted to be and had a _much_ better memory than he wanted people to think.

Specifically, when it _mattered_ , and if there was one thing that mattered to the royal, it was everything that made you gasp and cry out in pleasure.

Speaking of which, he pulled away from your lips just long enough to bite down on your collar bone, making you cry out before he began kissing and biting his way up your neck.  He was careful about marks, knowing if he left them anywhere visible you’d _actually_ throttle him, but he would be sure to leave them in places only _he_ had seen.

He _had_ been the only one to see you, touch you, like this…right?

“Ten years is a long time to go without,” he taunted, making his way back to your ear and nipping at the sensitive skin just below your earlobe to draw a short gasp from you, and catch your attention, “How ever did you survive without your king?”

Biting at your lip you remembered the few times you _did_ have time alone, either in the caravan at Hammerhead or the small apartment you had in Lestallum, you were _alone_.  As foolishly girlish as it sounded, you couldn’t bring yourself to spend even one night with someone.  You told yourself it was simply because you didn’t have time, you had a country to drag through Armageddon and you couldn’t afford getting too attached or even letting someone else getting too attached to you, you knew it was more than that.  Somewhere along the lines your casual agreement with your royal friend pushed your relationship further, not quite over the line that separated the realm of friends and lovers, but you were certainly somewhere _in_ that gray line.  You couldn’t say you were in love with Noctis, you would have to sit down and think very hard about that, but seeing as you knew what would happen when he _did_ return…it was a moot point.

Then he survived, and you were still in denial.

“I didn’t exactly have a lot of time,” you tried to brush it off with just that, but your voice was far shakier than you would have liked.  Every time Noctis got even _remotely_ dominant, he generally wasn’t, you turned into a stuttering, wide-eyed _mess_ just waiting to do what you were _told_ , and while the first time this happened you were surprised, you were far, _far_ , more aroused than anything else.

“But you had _some_.”  Lazy, hot kisses pressed against your sensitive skin, reminding you that yes, 10 years was a _long_ time to go without being touched.

“I got myself off,” you tried to brush it off again, a hot blush spreading through your skin as the confession was drawn from you and Noctis toyed and teased the idea of leaving a mark at the crook of your neck, and you knew what he was waiting for, “I thought of you.”

You did, it was hard _not_ to, and your imaginings spread from fantasies of a happy ending to memories of him looking down at you with red eyes as he pinned you against the wall.  Feeling him smirk against your neck before he pulled away, you found yourself staring up at his deep blue eyes as red began completely taking over.

“Good girl,” he teased gently, but there was no missing the affection and…was that _adoration_?  No matter, the kiss he pressed against your lips took your breath away and dashed aside your ability to think.

You threw all caution to the wind, you’d deal with the consequences later, as you began deftly unbuttoning Noctis’ shirt and tugging on it.  He pulled away just long enough to pull it off, not giving you enough time to _visually_ admire the man but your hands explored the expanse of toned muscle that was just revealed, before lightly trailing your nails along his skin.  You’d left scratches before, and had drawn a wide range of positive reactions, but the tease of your nails dragging across his skin drew a deep moan, bordering on _growl_ , from the man above you.  Grabbing your waist, he pulled you up just to unclasp your bra and toss it somewhere before pinning you back onto the couch.  Kissing you with increased vigor, his hands trailed down to the waist of your slacks and made quick work of the buttons keeping them secured.  Grabbing the waist of your pants and the lacy lingerie you were wearing, as much as he liked to admire you in your lacy underthings Noct was far more interested in seeing you in _nothing_ at the moment, and tugged them down.  He had to pull away from you, slipping off your heels, slacks, and panties to leave you in nothing at all.

 _Stars,_ but if that wasn’t a perfect view there simply _wasn’t one_.  Stark naked, hair a mess, eyes glazed with pupils dilated as you looked up at him, swollen lips parted and breasts heaving, legs parted so he could kneel between them.  Noctis missed this, ten long years with nothing but daydreams and memories-never a chance to slip away and manually deal with the result of his dirtier thoughts-and when he comes back your even more perfect than he remembered.  His gaze was predatory, sharp and memorizing every part of you as more and more red bled into his eyes, deep blue becoming a dark violet.  You bit your lip, nervously, only seconds before Noctis dove back down to you, expertly mouthing at one breast and using his hand to toy with the other.  You were so lost in the sensation, one hand grasping for purchase on his back as the other tangled in his black hair, you couldn’t help the loud cry you gave out when he flicked at your clit with his free hand.

~~Probably a good thing you couldn’t be quiet at the moment, Ignis was about to enter the office to continue working with you and the king after checking on progress in the city.  The Royal Advisor turned on his heel and walked away, catching Gladio in the hallway and dragging him away as he informed the Shield you and Noctis had _other plans_.~~

“So wet for me already,” he teased as he slipped one, then two fingers into you and hit that _perfect_ spot that had you mewling for him.  Ten years ago, he was able to play you like a fiddle, but he didn’t have nearly this much confidence, or dominance, unless something _triggered_ it.  Now he was just…Astrals you had no words.

You couldn’t even _form_ words, but there were bigger matters to attend to.

“Noctis,” you whined, oh so perfectly, and the king couldn’t put it off any longer.  Pulling his hand away from your breast, and pulling another whine from you as he pulled his other hand away from your core to unbuckle his belt and unbutton and unzip his pants to shove them down low enough to pull out his erection.  He moved back up to press a desperately heated kiss against your lips as he positioned the hot, throbbing head of his erection at your core, lifted your hips just _slightly_ for the perfect angle, and pushed in.

 _Fuck_ but did that feel _perfect_.  You were hot, wet, tight around him, he stretched you so perfectly and hit all the right places.  He pulled his lips away from yours with a deep groan, leaning his forehead against your shoulder as he started thrusting, slow at first before setting a _bruising_ pace.  You wanted this, you needed this.  Noctis' now red eyes flicked up to watch your face contort into pleasure as he briefly lifted his head.

He just needed _you_.

His thrusts, his lips leaving lingering kisses against your skin, his thumb toying with your clit, his voice as he spoke sweet nothings against your skin, it was all too much.  You tried to announce your coming orgasm, but it came out in a jumble of stuttered attempts to say his name before throwing your head and letting out a hoarse cry.  Your body stiffened, eyes shut, hips instinctually thrust back up against Noctis as you tightened around him.  He tumbled after you soon after, letting out what could only be described as a roar as he buried himself as deeply into you as he could as he came inside.

Lying there as the two of you caught your breath, playing with Noctis’ hair as he rested his head on your bust, you had a feeling the king was falling asleep.

“Get up, you lazy bum,” you teased, though you were quite worn out yourself, as you nudged Noctis’ shoulder.  His weight on top of you wasn’t uncomfortable, quite the opposite in fact, but the office wasn’t exactly private and there was still work to do.

“You’re so comfy,” he replied, nuzzling into your bust as he wrapped his arms around your waist.  It felt good just to hold you like that again.

Years ago, the two of you made a deal.  If one of you _caught feelings_ -your words-the party in question would come clean and the deal would end.  It made sense, it was the cleanest way to handle things your hormone addled teenage brains could think of and as you grew older you never really had time to think more about it.  Now, lying on that couch with you in a mess of sweaty limbs, Noctis was more than well aware he had ‘caught feelings’-to hell with that he was head-over-heels for you.  When he wasn’t training the last ten years he was thinking about you, and even when he was training his thoughts would trail to you-if you were okay, what you were doing, or even just thinking about the way you would sing along to your favorite songs or hum as you played with his hair in private.

He hated it, but he had to tell you.  Had to end this.  He had originally toyed with the idea of convincing you the two of you getting married would be a good thing for the country, but he couldn’t do that.  You meant too much to him for that, even if it meant letting you go he would make you happy.  Still, he clung to the chance that maybe, just maybe, you were willing to take the risk and jump into the abyss with him.


	20. Prophecies In Death (Potentially Any Of The Chocobros)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU
> 
> Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum was the last heir to the kingdom of Lucis, the kingdom with the infamous crystal granting the Caelum line magic. From Insomnia, he lived a mostly normal life even as marauders, barbarians, and Imperials tried to steal the crystal for themselves. There was one tiny detail, the same attack that killed his mother, and almost Noctis himself, left him with the ability to foresee death, a power that had last been seen in Solheim before it was destroyed and connected to a legendary "light" that had been nothing but a vague bedtime story for centuries. As his five closest friends join him in leaving the city for answers, you think things cannot possibly become more complicated than they are.
> 
> That was before Insomnia fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here’s the deal. This is an idea that’s been tickling the back of my mind for a while, but with my already heavy load of stories I need to finish I decided to put it on hold…and now it’s a one-shot in this not-so-little booklet. I guess we can consider it a trial-run so, while I’m finishing up Strings of Fate, y’all can let me know what you think about this in the comments. 
> 
> I got the idea from a few pictures on Pinterest that actually describe the plot as something almost entirely different from what it turned out to be. There’s a chance this was going to be the actual plot of the game before they changed things up yet again but as basically every trace of the source of the pictures have been deleted except their existence on Pinterest I have no idea. So, as a result, I kind of mixed the general summary given in the pictures with what the game turned out to be. I don’t even have the entire thing worked out yet because I’ve been focusing on other projects, but I wanted to get this out there so the plot-bunny would stop bugging me and go back to focusing on Strings of Fate and my Persona 5 series. I'll admit it's kind of Noct-centric at the moment but the final product, if there is one, will include personal journeys for all of the Chocobros and their Choco-chick (the reader...I don't know...I thought it was cute...I'm sorry).

# Prophecies In Death

### Potentially Any Of The Chocobros

It started out as a quest for answers, the same accident that killed his mother left Prince Noctis with an ability that was strange even to the Caelum line.  There was no history of _anyone_ having this ability, not even the Oracle, except _one_ man in Solheim.  The catch was Solheim was destroyed _centuries_ ago, and now it was a pit of deamon infested ruins, but that was where the answers were.  It was risky to leave, with marauders, barbarians, and Niflheim making constant attempts to steal the crystal that gave the royal family their power, as much as they could without waging an entire war, but it had to be done.

He wasn’t alone, his Shield accompanied him along with his advisor and two friends the prince met by chance.  Prompto, Noctis’ best friend, became acquainted with the prince in high school by complete chance.  Or maybe it wasn’t chance, maybe destiny was something that existed, it was hard to tell with all the entities claiming to be gods.  There were the Astrals, of course, and their only connection to the human world was the Oracle.  Then there was Etro, the goddess of time believed to live primarily at the end of time while watching time pass and ensuring nothing happened to alter it, but never acting directly.  The temple in Insomnia was where he met you, orphaned at an early age and raised by the priests and priestesses there, and he was desperately trying to find answers after he foresaw yet another death.

The four of you were the only ones who knew the depth of which this morbid ability haunted Noctis, to the point that he had seen your deaths.  The worst part of it was every little thing _changed_ the vision, one-day Gladio would be living to a ripe old age surrounded by the big family he wanted, and the next he was dying in battle protecting the capitol city against a _hoard_ of marauders seeking the crystal.  Sometimes Ignis just got sick and others it was a freak accident.  One vision put Prompto in the path of a deadly storm as he struggled to save the stragglers, in another it was done with a tear-stained note and his own hand.  He wouldn’t let you _near_ a car for days when he saw you die because of one, and he didn’t know what to think when he saw you fighting in the end of time just trying to get the world _one more day._  

Etro was an absentee goddess at best, the Astrals were overpowered aliens who made false claims at being omnipotent, both claimed to have gifted the Caelum line with the crystal, and none truly explained what this mystical _light_ was.  The five of you had been spending hours in the Citadel library, studying the old tomes kept in Etro’s Temple or the grand shrine to the Astrals, even _Googling_ whatever you could.  Ignis was the only one able to constantly help Noctis with his search for answers, his vigor renewed when, not only did the visions become more and more frequent, but the crystal’s reaction to him became fiercer and fiercer until he was thrown back against the wall.

What he wouldn’t give to go back to his teenage years, two years ago, when he could simply ignore the occasional dreams, ignore his lineage, ignore his place in society.  Now he was fully preparing to leave Insomnia altogether if it meant he could find answers, and the guilt he felt at the fact you and Prompto were cramming training into every _second_ you could simply to accompany him as his Crownsguard didn’t help.  You had a bit of an advantage on your blonde friend, years of gymnastics, acrobatics, and dance serving as hobbies to busy your time and give you an excuse to get out of the temple made you far more agile than most.

Noctis needed the help, but seeing your death change from day to day certainly was not making things better.  To make things even worse, your only solid clue was a long-dead man from Solheim and wise words given by the head priestess that raised you.

_‘The closer you are to the light, the larger the shadows become.”_

You woke up early the day you were to receive your Crownsguard garments, picking them up at _dawn_ with Prompto and putting them on first thing.  Packed bags already tossed into the trunk of the Regalia and your own goodbyes already said, the two of you rushed down the halls as the king gave a formal farewell to his son, and while you wanted to believe Noctis kept things short and formal because he was in a rush you were well aware the issue was far more complicated.  The five of you piled into the car and took off for the wilds outside the capitol city to stop at spots marked on the maps on your phones, hoping to find answers before you had to leave Lucis for the crumbled and ancient country.

Being a strong-willed young woman, you were already impressive when dressed in your usual jeans and t-shirt, or shorts and t-shirts in the summer, but even the shorts didn’t show off your form as well as your newly gained Crownsguard garments did.  The zip-up crop top, colored a dark gray, clung to your breasts and revealed not only your smoothly toned torso and waist but a simple silver stud that pierced your belly-button.  The hood of your crop top hung over the back of your black leather jacket, decorated with the insignia of the Crownsguard in a dark gray on the back and a thirteen-hour clock on the right shoulder.  Only wearing the jacket in the colder weather made it possible to see that your left fingerless glove only covered up to your elbow, but the right one reached the middle of your toned bicep.

Most interesting was probably the lower half, a black short skort decorated by gray patches lined in small black studs, the slit over your left leg decorated with larger silver studs, and the short length allowed not only a strip of skin to be seen between your black stockings and the skort but the garters that connected the under-layer of the skort and held up your black stockings.  The mid-thigh half skirt that was sewed into the skort, just under your black cloth belt decorated by a metal buckle in the center, was dark gray and the underside the same shade of red as the bottom of your black knee-high boots, laced up the front.  The thick rubber heels of your boots were only about two inches, and while they were nothing compared to heels they had seen you wear when you attended galas and other gatherings of the nobility with Noctis in an attempt to help him survive, seeing you flip around and dance around the battlefield while wearing them was impressive.

You didn’t see the point of the crop-top, actively hated it at times, but then you reached Lestallum and had to investigate the Meteor itself and suddenly you were _grateful_ for the damn thing as you tied up your mid-length hair in an attempt to stave off the heat. 

Prompto attempted to keep the number of pictures he took with you even with the others, but there were always just a few more of you.  To his defense, no matter what you said, you were a _lot_ prettier than them and you were the only one that seemed to care that there were half a dozen pictures of you playing with the baby Chocobos.  Being the shortest of the group, at a miniscule five-foot-three, you found your head becoming Gladio’s favorite armrest.  Though, after finally seeing the piercing the guys _swore_ they saw by accident during one of your gymnastics meets, he was _convinced_ you had some ink hidden away. 

Ignis simply enjoyed speaking with you, the deeply intellectual conversations you offered as the two of you prepared meals or cleaned the laundry always left the both of you with something to think about.  Sometimes it even helped the two of you put together a plan to suggest to the prince, who let the two of you do _most_ of the hard thinking when possible.  As for Noctis, you were probably his favorite pillow.  Your lap, your stomach, your back, he’d even gotten away with using your butt as a pillow.  You were a generally comforting presence to him, especially after another dream of death passed his eyes, always knowing that to say or do to help him calm down.

All of you expected this to be a stressful, but mostly peaceful journey.  That was before Noctis woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, kicking everyone awake and _demanding_ to make a beeline from the peaceful beach of Galdin Quay back to Insomnia.  He didn’t explain why, just got in the driver’s seat-surprising enough considering he normally let Ignis drive-and barely waited for the rest of you to pack up and get in the car before he took off at such a high speed so quickly the tires squealed against the pavement.  Turning the car to the side as he hit the brakes, the five of you watched in terror at the burning sight before you.  That was when it clicked, the death Noctis foresaw was that of his father’s.

_Insomnia had fallen._


	21. House Blend With Cream (Nyx Ulric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You had one rule: don't get involved with customers.
> 
> Then some handsome asshole came and ruined that plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm putting together a short series of the boys with coffee...I don't know why...

# House Blend With Cream

### Nyx Ulric

Owning your own café had been your dream, as odd as it sounded.  Your father had one before he died, and while you were young and the family had lost your father’s beloved café you made it a point to rebuild the shop.  You made all of your blends by hand and weren’t about to let anyone claim you served anything less than the best coffee, for a fair price of course.  As you continued your business, you added other items to the menu and found yourself with regulars, though you followed your father’s rule: _keep a safe distance and don’t make things personal._

One such regular was a Glaive, his regular order was the house blend with cream and he never seemed to change it.  You’d always give him a to-go cup, he was always in his uniform an on his way to the Glaive Headquarters or on his way home and needed the caffeine just to get there.  Most importantly, you’d brush off every attempt he made to flirt.  You didn’t _dislike_ his attempts, he was a handsome man and you were flattered by the attention, you just had a rule about getting involved with customers.  For a shop owner, that was worse than getting involved with co-workers.

But you didn’t exactly have a flourishing social life to begin with, your days and evenings revolved around a café you opened at six, meaning you had to get up at _four_ to be there by _five._   That was what you blamed your slip on anyway, truth was you were getting lonely.  With your father gone, all you had were your grandparents and the last had passed mere months after you opened the café.  Even with your search for a barista to help out and give you the occasional day off, the closest acquaintance you had was the Glaive you could only refer to as _house blend with cream_.

“My name’s Nyx, by the way,” he offered with that smile you had been struggling to ignore since the first time he walked in your small shop.

“[Y/N],” you replied, returning his smile with one of your own as you placed the hot brew onto the counter and asked, “Anything else I can get for you?”

“A date?  Preferably one with you.”  He was sure to clarify, being a smartass himself he knew how to defend against one, and considering the way he had been pining over you since he first walked into the shop-it was so damn obvious _he_ noticed it-he wasn’t about to take any chances.

“Sorry, I don’t exactly have time,” you replied with an apologetic smile, “But once that help wanted sign comes down you can try again.”

“Well then, [Y/N], I’ll be sure to do just that,” he promised with a smile and a determined spark in his gray-blue eyes, leaving his payment and a tip on the counter as he practically sauntered out of the shop.  It wasn’t a yes, but the way you suggested he try again certainly meant it wasn’t a _no_ either.  So, he patiently waited for the _help wanted_ sign to come down from the window, and the morning it did, he asked again.

You couldn’t help yourself, giving him a coy smile and a teasing hum as you grabbed a pen, writing your number down on the cup.  When the order was filled, and the cup with your number handed to the Glaive prepared to pay for his coffee.

“This one’s on the house,” you winked sliding the cup towards him across the counter before stepping around to check on the customers who had just arrived and sat at a booth by the window.  Picking up the cup and noticing the writing on it, Nyx turned the cup around and saw your number and the words _call me_ written onto the side.  With a smile and a wave as he backed out of the front door, he left for work with every intention of calling you the _second_ he could, specifically the second he was on break.

He was going to be endlessly teased about his childish reaction to when you said yes, saving most of his excitement for after the call ended, but he didn’t care.

_You said yes._


	22. Ebony (Ignis Scientia)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being an attending at a teaching hospital was stressful, between the 48 hour shifts and the constant nagging and paging from your students. The only thing that kept you going was the black liquid so packed with caffeine that any pea-brain could figure out too much would kill you, and yet you didn't have a monopoly on the market.
> 
> Better yet, the only other person you met who drank the substance was attractive, had his act together (unlike you), and he was interested in you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was watching Scrubs on Hulu. Reader is based on Dr. Cox, and there was an episode where J.D. got paged cause a patient's stitches popped because he sneezed.

# Ebony

### Ignis Scientia

All you wanted was a good cup of coffee before your pager went off, but sure enough the second you made the order your pager went off.  Being an attending at a university hospital, you were now responsible for a new set of interns.  You kept telling them to page the damn residents or ask a nurse, but sure enough you’d end up paged with questions like _‘how much Tylenol should I prescribe?’_   It’s your average household pain pills and a 90-year-old patient, take a handful and throw them at the patient, whatever gets in their mouth is the answer.

You were about to lose your mind when you saw the page, knowing _exactly_ who sent it to you.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me Nancy,” you muttered under your breath, clipping the pager back to the waist of your black scrubs, hearing your order called out as it was placed on the counter, reaching for it just before you noticed someone else was as well.

“Sorry,” you voiced, retracting your hand as you pulled your cell phone out of the front pocket of the black scrubs that matched your pants, the white long-sleeve shirt underneath the only thing currently separating your uniform from the rest of the medical team at the hospital.

“Yours is comin’ up nurse…” the barista informed you, that sickening smile and arched eyebrow searching for a name.

“ _Doctor_ ,” you snapped, flatly, as you flipped your phone around and scrolled through the texts that had suddenly spammed your phone-all from the ICU nurses station, “You think nurses get paged two hours before their shift starts?  My name is stitched into my scrubs and it starts with _Dr.”_

“Sorry, uh…I’ll get that…” he trailed off, leaving to make your coffee as you slipped your phone back into your pocket, leaning back against the counter.

“That certainly explains your order,” the man who shared your particularly unique order, “Insomnia University?”

“Internal medicine,” you affirmed his question with further detail, your pager going off _yet again_ , and you pulled it off the waist of your scrubs to check the page, “Most of my time is spent in the ICU, goddammit Sally just one hour without killing everyone in the ICU is all I ask.”

“Take mine, it sounds as if the hospital is in dire need,” he offered, green eyes amused though his intention to help you was clear.  Gods he was a handsome man, styled chestnut hair, intelligently sharp green eyes, well-dressed, tall and built, and fuck that _voice_ and that _accent._

“I ordered a large,” you replied teasingly when you spotted his medium cup, not expecting his response.  He was just as smooth as he sounded.

“Then I suppose I will be indebted to you,” he responded with a chuckle, “Would dinner suffice?”

“I feel like I’d owe you a year’s worth of therapy if you want to spend that much time talking to me,” you joked, pushing yourself off of the counter, grabbing the pen in your pocket and scribbling down your name and number on a nearby napkin as you handed it to the man, “But hey, it’s your call, Mr…”

“Ignis Scientia.”  He took the napkin, neatly folding it and safely tucking it into a pocket of his suit jacket, his eyes darting to your name etched on your scrubs to learn your name before his eyes met yours once again, “I look forward to meeting you again Dr. [L/N], but perhaps you should be on your way.  Both Nancy and Sally seem to be desperate for help”

“[Y/N].  And Sally and Nancy are the same intern, he just made an unfortunate comment about women in medicine normally being nurses and gynecologists and I’m making for damn sure he learns his lesson,” you corrected as you took the man’s cup of Ebony, answering your ringing phone, your eyes widening in panic as the nurse on the other end began frantically explaining what happened, “Woah, woah, slow down, what do you mean his staples came out?  What happened?  _He sneezed?_ Son of a bitch.  Are all his guts where he’s supposed to be?  Good.  Now, stop panicking, get a surgeon-a _capable one_ -and stitch him back up, I’m on my way”

You were positive that phone call, an actual phone call you had to take and only the _beginning_ of your day, had chased Ignis off.  You were proven wrong when he called you later that evening.

People who drink Ebony certainly have a wildly different approach to life…probably because of the life that forces them to drink the arguably deadly caffeinated liquid.


	23. Sugar, No Cream (Noctis Lucis Caelum)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Becoming a member of the King's staff was something you never expected, even with your upbringing, and if the two of you met again you expected it to be for work, not over coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I disappeared. I had a bunch of other ideas for unrelated projects and then school started...

# Sugar, No Cream

### Noctis Lucis Caelum

You didn’t have a lot of time, everyone that kept Lucis running in the post-apocalyptic world that was the Starscourge had been picked up and shoved into the Citadel, which was still under construction.  Being a member of the remaining nobility-one of the few who continued to train their members-and the clever mind behind refugee relocation and the supply chains, you were one of the first people plucked from Lestallum and dropped in the city.  As much as you would have loved focusing on rebuilding the Capitol, somebody had to handle those particular issues now that the country was rebuilding and the king and his inner circle had bigger problems to deal with than _where to put the Chocobos_ and _how to safely take the Lestallum wall down._

You had met Iris during the Starscourge, she had been training as a Crownsguard field medic before the Starscourge and regularly accompanied teams.  You met her as she joined the team escorting particularly valuable supplies from Lestallum to Hammerhead, supplies you weren’t about to trust with just anyone.  The two of you quickly bonded and now that refugees and supplies were not nearly in as much danger, simply the occasional fiend that any Hunter could handle, and she was familiar with the city and the people now running the country she was now your assistant.  You didn’t have time to be running all over the palace, asking the King to sign this paper or the King’s advisor to call that person.  You were too busy on the phone with a painful amount of people, one of which being your father who was rebuilding your family’s home of Cleigne, though his focus was mostly in assisting the refugees in Lestallum return to their homes and keeping the rest of the nobility organized, who you had to remind you were calling for _business_ not _pleasure._

Though there were times that overlapped as you had to _beg_ him not to send the king an official marriage proposal on your behalf.  You already had to deal with your mother nagging you about meeting someone, getting a marriage proposal involved would only make things _so much worse._   You already had to deal with the nobility themselves as a whole, you were the king’s representative regarding refugee relocation and supply chains, the last thing you needed was them thinking you were taking advantage of your proximity to him.  Your office was _inside_ the palace after all as most of the workable areas of the Citadel still being under construction as King Noctis ordered residential and necessities-such as hospitals, electricity, running water, and places to safely store and distribute supplies-were the priority. 

Those who had not relocated to the city were not immediately impacted by the decision, but those who had were certainly grateful.  Faith in the crown had been wavering before Insomnia fell, and the King’s decision to put his people first after such a disaster put a swift end to it-though that whole _saving the entire world_ thing helped.  It didn’t help with the nobility, however, who quickly voiced their complaints to you-as your work was what took money and supplies from them.  You had one such meeting with a few of them, and it lasted for _hours_ as you sat and calmly explained that you were simply trying to save as many people as you could.

They didn’t leave until well after noon, and after seeing them out you made your way to an office which served as a make-shift break room, seeing as ~~Ignis~~ _someone_ made it a rule that only very specific people could go in and out of the kitchen until the Crown could afford to focus on re-staffing the palace.  You picked up the coffee pot, taking a whiff before dumping the leftovers in the sink of a nearby bathroom and making another batch of coffee.

_Correctly_.

You couldn’t do much with what you had, but you had a part-time job at a coffee shop while you were at college in Insomnia, before the city fell, and you learned more about making coffee than you ever thought possible.  At the very least you could make coffee that wouldn’t kill anyone, unlike that… _concoction_ you just threw out.  Waiting with more paperwork, tapping the tip of your pen against your bottom lip as you worked, completely engrossed as you leaned back against the table which held the coffee maker and cups.  It had only been a month since the sun rose, and even in the palace-which was still partially under construction-things weren’t close to ‘normal.’

“What happened to the coffee?” someone, a man but that was to be expected, questioned.  You assumed this was the same man who let out a heavy yawn as he nearly collapsed on the old couch Iris donated from her own apartment-leaving her without a couch.

“It was cold and unfit for human consumption,” you answered, sounding almost bored as you continued looking through your paperwork, turning to place them on the table and pulled out a pen, scratching things out and writing notes in the margins.

 “It wasn’t _that_ bad,” he defended, sounding wounded.  Based on that you came to the conclusion _he_ made the coffee.

“Maybe if you poured an entire bag of sugar in it,” you retorted, looking up from your paperwork to continue the conversation.  The last time you spoke to anyone outside of work was _days_ ago, as Iris was kindly handling the disaster in Lestallum, and you had been swamped with everything else after losing your assistant.  Then you realized just _who_ you had been sassing.

“You say that like there’s something wrong with people who put sugar in their coffee,” King Noctis Lucis Caelum replied, amused as he sat back on the old couch and his lips turned upwards.  With the initial shock subsiding, you opted for continuing the conversation instead of hiding behind propriety.  You knew what it was like for people to avoid a real conversation simply because you were nobility, you couldn’t _imagine_ what it was like for royalty.

“It’s one thing if it’s to make good coffee a little sweeter, it’s completely different if you’re making bad coffee seem like it’s fit for humans.”  Quickly grabbing a clean mug, you poured the finished pot of hot coffee into the mug and added a little sugar, stirring it before crossing the threshold between you and the king and handing it to him.  You waited, hands on your hips, as the king tried the coffee.

“Alright, I give, that last batch was crap,” he admitted, sitting up and watching as you nodded proudly and poured your own cup of coffee, “Cleigne, right?  In Old Lestallum.”

“About an hour away…hang on, you remember who I am and where I’m from?” you questioned, stirring your own coffee and sitting on the couch with Noctis, “We barely talked-“

“Yeah, but you weren’t trying to flirt your way into the royal family,” he admitted, explaining exactly why you caught his attention in the first place.  You never begged for attention, you were polite and cordial but you hated the gatherings of nobility as much as he did.  Though, most impressively, you were discussing detailed and complicated politics and legal nuances in high school.

“I caught your attention because I wasn’t trying to catch your attention?”

“To my defense it wasn’t just _that_ , but basically.  I wanted to ask you out for coffee, but I chickened out…probably best not to talk about why,” Noctis’ confidence slipped as he cleared his throat and resituated himself to sit facing you.

“If you tell me I promise I’ll have coffee with you again,” you bribed as you chuckled, amusement sparking in your eyes as you hid your growing smirk by taking a sip of your coffee.

“I was a socially awkward 20-year-old guy and I still remember that black gown you were wearing.”  His blunt answer caught you by surprise, coffee coming out of your nose as you giggled madly.  You caught onto what his answer implied, without actually saying it, and while you were _fully_ flattered that he found you that attractive it was just too adorably _funny_ not to laugh.  Noctis chuckled, becoming more comfortable as your lips formed a smile and your eyes seemed to sparkle as you laughed.  Then you said something that brought back the hopeful young man he used to be 10 years ago.

“Based on that, I think coffee is going to become a daily thing.”


	24. Soulmate AU-Shared Injuries (Nyx Ulric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your body was traced with black lines and marks every time your soul mate got injured. It started when you were 18, as it did with everyone, but that never took your attention. What really caught your attention was the fact that his injuries were not only consistent, but life-threatening and mortal a lot of the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It started with a tumblr post, and as we all know Nyx throws himself into danger to keep others from getting hurt.
> 
> Also, Carla is based off of Carla from Scrubs, because I love her character.

# Shared Injuries

### Nyx Ulric

You had no idea who your soulmate was, but you _did_ know he was on the fast track to getting himself _killed._

Seriously.  When you were a teenager you joked that your soulmate was going to hate you, always accidently walking into things, tripping, and otherwise harming yourself.  Then your 18th birthday came, and you saw the lines draw across your skin as your soulmate was injured.  You never shared the injuries, but you saw the lines of black that slipped down your arms and crossed your torso, the misshapen black dots your friend, a Hunter, told you were bullet wounds.

What was he getting himself into?  You were about to scratch a nasty-gram into your arm to get him to _stop_.  Seriously!  You had never been so terrified as when you saw that black dot only millimeters away from your heart, only to see a long black line trace across your shoulder a few weeks later, not even a month.

It was this tendency of your soulmates that led you to becoming a doctor, attending one of the best medical schools in Insomnia and becoming an intern, and later resident, at the best hospital in the city.  As you treated the Crownsguard and Kingsglaive, you recognized their injuries as they were terrifyingly similar to the black lines that traced your skin every time your soulmate got hurt.  That did nothing to reassure you, it only meant your soulmate was placed in life or death situations on a regular basis.  You were proud of his service but…

You just hoped you wouldn’t see that last line, that black line that traced his fatal wound and permanently stained your own skin symbolizing his violent death, before you could meet him.

You were working the late shift, the price you paid as a resident, and making the rounds of the patients you would be checking up on.  Your mind continued to wander to the black line that traced your abdomen.  It wasn’t long, but there was a match on your back.  Your soulmate had suffered from a through-and-through stabbing, and the black line had yet to fade.  He was still alive, though.  He had to be.

At least, that was what you kept telling yourself.  Carla, the nurse that had proven to be your salvation since your first day as an intern, told you that you’d feel if your soulmate died.  You didn’t know how she knew, you couldn’t exactly call her an expert on the subject, but you believed her all the same.

“Hey Carla,” your next patient greeted as you stepped into the hospital room with Carla, “Long time no see.”

“I wish I could say it was longer,” she immediately retorted, shooting an indignant look at your terribly attractive patient as she tied her long curls back into a messy bun, “[Y/N] this is Nyx Ulric, the _hero_ of the Kingsglaives.”

“Hero?” you questioned with a raised brow, looking up from the chart you had just began to read.  It wasn’t that you were questioning his valor, you were questioning the tone Carla used with the word.

“This idiot keeps throwing himself into harms way.”

“You could at least give me a chance to defend myself,” Nyx pointed out before turning to you and trying to talk his way out of a bad first impression, “It’s not as stupid as she makes it sound-“

Carla didn’t look away from checking the IV of fluids to keep the man hydrated, and of course the pain medication that allowed him to sit up in the first place, “You’re right, it’s worse.  You got your dumbass stabbed.”

“Lucky for you I work at the free clinic for extra cash, so I’m exhausted all the time, but I’ve already dealt with more than my fair share of stabbings,” you joked lightly, eyes skimming the yellow paper and messy scrawl of your attending physician as you drank your piping hot coffee.  Well, it was _called_ coffee, but the break room coffee always sucked, the only way to drink it was hot enough to burn your tongue.  That being said, when you read about Nyx’s wound, the stab wound in particular, your brow furrowed, and you placed your coffee and the chart down to pretend you were checking his stitches.

_Oh, Shiva’s tits, you’ve gotta be kidding me._

Being who you were, you decided the direct approach was your best option.  You waited a few moments for Carla to leave before introducing yourself far less formally.

“Could you do me a favor?  Cut back on the life-threating injuries.  I’m getting tired of having a heart attack every time I wake up and find out you’ve got another injury,” you lifted your gray-blue scrub top just high enough to show the black line that matched Nyx’s injury and stitches.

“And here I was trying to think of a good ice breaker to asking you out,” Nyx looked up at you with a charming smile before teasing, “But you’re not really one to talk, you’re kind of a klutz.”

“True.  Hey, how’d you fall on that bullet last month?”

“Ouch,” Nyx’s smile grew into an amused one as he chuckled, “You don’t take any crap, do you?”

“I’ve gotta go deal with a drug addict who’s gonna try to steal everyone’s watch and tell me it’s all gonna be different this time.  I’ll be back to make sure you’re getting some sleep and check up on your progress,” you replied as you made a few notes on the yellow paper of the soldier’s chart, “I’m not above slipping you pills to make you get some sleep, so at least make an attempt.”

“And here I was gonna ask you to get some coffee together,” he joked, trying to brush off the fact he hadn’t slept since before he arrived.  He’d been able to avoid that conversation with everyone else-

“Nice try, honey, but you’re gonna get some sleep one way or another.  If you need to talk tell a nurse to get me, I’ll get you my number before my shift ends.  Now stop getting hurt so much,” you ordered sternly, hanging Nyx’s medical chart off the foot of the hospital bed and adding, over your shoulder, as you left the room, “Doctor’s orders!”

Now here you were, six months later, kissing your once again wounded boyfriend hello and letting him grin when he saw you.  At least for a brief second before you slapped him upside the head.

“Stop getting yourself hurt, Nyx, that’s all I ask!”


End file.
